Hanoman Battles the Forces of Rawana

In this 1973 painting by Ketut Madra, the monkey army has arrived in Langka and the war to free Sita from captivity is underway. The monkey general Hanoman battles Rawana’s son Indrajit or Meganada while Wibisana, Rama, and Laksmana look on from the upper right with the monkey king Sugriwa, and the generals Nala and Nila just below (right to left). On the upper left, Rawana challenges Rama directly, while at the bottom left, the parekan, or servants, Delem and Sangut appear to have a better sense than their king of how badly the battle and the war are going.

Madra uses a wide-ranging palette of colors in his painted work. Sometimes, as in the painting above, he prefers colors that resemble those of the painted leather puppets of the wayang kulit. His colors may be brighter, recalling the hues of Balinese masks and costumes in dance drama telling the same wayang stories. And occasionally both in painting on canvas and drawing on paper, he emphasizes the quality of the line by using no color at all, or almost none. (text by David Irons)