The image I selected is titled, “Battle against Ravana”. It is illustrating a battle scene. The battle according to the description seems to be between the two opposing forces. God Vishnu in the guise of the son Kind Rama, defeats (with the help of the monkey king Hanuman) the demon king Ten-Headed Ravana. The artist draws the two forces nearly about to clash, on the left side, this is where God Vishnu is sitting on what seems to be a rock and holding a bow. On his side, all the soldiers are monkey’s, using trees from the ground as weapons. On the other side there are creatures with horns in all different shapes and colors riding on horses, with their leader (Ten-Headed Ravana) riding alongside them on a chariot. The artist places him right in the middle of his men, on an elevated platform showing his importance. This illustration is clearly demonstrating action, since they’re right in the middle of a major battle. What stood out the most to me was what the artist painted on the top-left corner, the soldiers (the monkeys) from the King Rama side have their backs against the battle and they seem as if they’re fleeing the scene.
In the book, right in the beginning the author R.K. Narayan talks about Ravana stating, “The Ten-headed Ravana and his brothers have acquired from us extraordinary powers through austerities and prayers, and now threaten to destroy our worlds and enslave us. They go on along recklessly in their career of tranny, suppressing all virtue and goodness wherever found” (4). This explains why the there’s a battles going on in the image I selected, one side wants to completely annihilate the other. Also in the book the author explains why God Vishnu’s army consists of monkeys, Ravana was cursed in earlier times to expect defeat/ destruction only from a monkey (5). This clearly shows that the images that we viewed are not just images, there are many interpretations embedded within them.