The Battle Between The Armies of Rama and Ravana

The mythic battle between the demon king Ravana and the prince of Ayodhya, Rama is visually articulated in colourful detail. 

We are presented an oblique bird’s eye view into the battlefield that stretches across the visual frame.

The artist cleaves the painted surface into two compositional halves, running a diagonal stream from the top right depicting the simian army of Rama on the right and the demon army of Ravana on the left.

The battle is about to begin. 

An early victory is commenced by Rama’s side as a demon from Ravana’s lies face down on the flowing waters on the bottom left, his face pressed down by a monkey soldier, who lethally flings his club downwards while the vanquished demon gasps an anguished cry.

The action has just begun however, and there is anticipation about the outcome of the battle as the first row of soldiers from either side leap to cross the river.

The ferocity of the two armies is well matched. The monstrous many-hued demons with their grotesque snouts, horned heads and speckled bodies..

..wield an assortment of weapons from spears, clubs, swords and bows, to a strange unthreatening trumpet-like weapon, and, more amusingly, guns!

Two demons, one fair-skinned, the other olive-skinned with black dashes, are depicted with these modern instruments of destruction.

Rama’s simian army is noticeably ill-equipped compared to the vast array of weapons under the command of the demons,  but make up for the deficiency with an unmatched fervour and ferocity.

While a few of them wield diminutive clubs..

..others make do with whatever they can find - rocks, sticks and branches of trees are put to good use.

Their coloured faces contrast brightly against their pale skin, and their grim, unrelenting determination is reflected on their face –  their yellow eyes narrowed in focussed concentration.

The simian army is also joined by the bears who had lent their support to Rama.

Rama and his brother Lakshmana are depicted in the centre right..

..their coiled and matted hair suggesting their period in exile during the course of the battle.

Their status as princes, however, is adequately manifested in the strings of pearls and ornaments adorning their body. They raise their bows, string taut with arrows, poised for action.

Their enemy, the ten-headed and twenty-armed Ravana, is depicted on the corner left, holding an array of weapons..

..seated on a chariot  pulled by two donkeys that gallop across the battlefield.

The symbol of the donkey over his crowns alludes to his cupidity, a metaphor played out visually in Pahari miniatures.