Hanuman, assuming the form of a small monkey, before Sita

Tasked with flying across the ocean to find the whereabouts of Sita who had been abducted by the demon King of Lanka and confined in his kingdom, Hanuman after a long search finds Sita held captive in a beautiful grove guarded by fearsome ogresses. Hanuman then assumes a diminutive form to hide among the trees. When after a bout of drunken revelry the demonesses guarding Sita fall into a stupor, Hanuman begins narrating the story of Rama from his birth till the event of his sending Hanuman to Lanka in search of Sita. As she listened to the narration of Hanuman, an overjoyed Sita looked up to find Hanuman perched on a Simshapa tree.

Stepping down, Hanuman approached Sita who revealed her identity and narrated the incident of her abduction by Ravana in the forest. Hanuman then revealed himself as a messenger of Rama and allaying the fears of Sita, who suspected Hanuman to be Ravana in disguise gave Sita, a signet ring sent by Rama to strengthen her confidence.

The artist has depicted this event of the surreptitious entry of Hanuman in the grove and his meeting with Sita. The artist carefully contrasts and highlights the figures against a malachite green ground and hillock in the background which leads up to a clear cornflower blue sky and grey rippling waters in the foreground. Sita sits under a tree carefully delineated with large and decorative leaves, with similarly rendered trees line the hillock in the background.

While she sits under a tree in austere negation of luxury, Ravana’s magnificent palaces protected by lofty ramparts present an imposing contrast on the left. The ogresses depicted with their hairy chests, sagging breasts and unkempt hair flying about are in deep sleep, their eyes shut, unaware of the entry of diminutive Hanuman who is conversing with Sita. The immense forms and their coarsely rendered features present a contrast to Sita’s form and visage with long eyes and arched eyebrows. Sita’s facial features follow the Bilaspur idiom of around the 1700s with her long face, large nose and long eyes slightly upturned towards the corners.

The choice of colours reveals the distinctive palette of Bilaspur that combines plain severe colours with brilliant flashes of bold oranges, mellowed reds, ochres and mauves. The treatment of the fortress on the left also strongly reflects the Bilaspur style where architectural structures are generally rendered as simplified and stark forms with minimal detailing.