Ceremonial hanging depicting the battle between Rama and Ravana

This ceremonial hanging was made for export to Indonesia. It is a typical representation of the Ramayana epic that singles out the episode of the battle between Rama, the crown price of Ayodhya, and Ravana, the ogre king of Lanka. In this hanging, the central characters are strategically placed in the centre surrounded by the monkey army on Rama’s side (right), and the ogre army on Ravana’s side (left). The black outlined figures are filled in with brown and maroon paint to accentuate three-dimensionality of the figures.