The Death of Valin and Tara’s Discourse

Page from a dispersed series of the Ramayana Made in Himachal Pradesh, India or Jammu and Kashmir, India

Artist/maker unknown, India, Himachal Pradesh or Jammu and Kashmir

Opaque watercolour, gold, and silver-coloured paint on paper 8 1/4 x 12 1/8 inches (21 x 30.8 cm)

2004-149-30 Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004

This scene from the Ramayana series is the climax of the struggle for the rule of the monkey kingdom. Rama confronts Sugriva’s brother, Valin, the legitimate king of the monkeys, and kills him. This painting depicts the moment after the fight when Valin lies dying in the arms of his wife Tara. Their son Angada grasps his father’s feet and Hanuman, the monkey general, kneels nearby. Sugriva, now mourning his brother and feeling intense guilt at his role in the death, stands to the side. He talks with Rama and Lakshmana, who wear leaf garments to show they still live in forest exile. The long text on the reverse of the page recounts Tara’s lament that Rama, born to uphold world order, has sinned against it in his unjust murder of her husband.”