RAVI VARMA 2025.416

Lankadehan Hanuman (or ‘Hanuman burns Lanka’) depicts a dramatic episode from the Rāmāyaṇa in which the divine monkey god devotedly serves Rama by tracking his wife, Sita, after she is kidnapped by the demon Ravana. Hanuman, who is often depicted with a monkey face and human body, locates Sita in the Ashoka grove. She gives him her small gold head ornament as proof of the encounter. Before departing, he allows himself to be captured by Ravana’s soldiers. When brought before the demon king, Hanuman is mocked and his tail set alight before he is released. As he departs, Hanuman stretches his burning tail and sets the city of Lanka ablaze. After a painting by Raja Ravi Varma, the image shows the moment Hanuman triumphantly leaves Lanka, holding Sita’s ornament in one hand while his tail blazes behind him. The burning city below heightens the dramatic composition.