Hanuman spies Sita in the Ashoka Grove, from the “Shangri” Ramayana

Cleveland Museum of Art

Hanuman spies Sita in the Ashoka Grove, from the “Shangri” Ramayana

Date
c. 1700–25
Medium
Gum tempera and ink on paper
Culture
Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art

After her abduction, Sita is imprisoned in a garden on the island of Lanka. Female guards appointed by her captor, the demon Ravana, surround her and jeer as she crouches on a step. The monkey in the tree above her is the hero Hanuman, a loyal friend to her husband Rama. He shrank to disguise himself and gives her a message: now that he has found her, he will bring Rama and their armies to rescue her. The female guards have human bodies and fanciful animal heads.

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