Untitled (Hanuman Battling Ravana)

The Ramayana is one of the two major Sanskrit epics from ancient India. The embedded narrative of the epic has lent itself to myriad (visual) interpretations and reimaginations for centuries. This pat—traditional artworks from eastern India known for their intricate details and depictions of myths and legends—shows Hanuman, the monkey-god and devotee of Rama, the epic’s divine protagonist, in a warring embrace with Ravana, the epic’s ten-headed demon who was also the ruler of what is now Sri Lanka. Ravana is described in literature as being twenty-armed, but it is uncertain whether this change was intentional or a mistake at the hands of the engraver.