Relief panel

This terracotta relief panel would originally been made for the exterior of a Hindu temple in Bengal. The dramatically executed scene is from the Ramayana, the great Hindu epic which tells the story of Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu. In the centre is the ten-headed demon, Ravana, who has abducted Sita, Rama's wife, and carried her off to his island fortress, Lanka. Ravana stands on a chariot and is accompanied by two demonic warriors. They are fighting Hanuman, the monkey god, shown top left, who was Rama's staunch ally. Hanuman went to Lanka and made contact with Sita before attacking the demons and fighting fiercely with them. After eventually allowing himself to be captured in order to meet Ravana, his tail was set on fire. However, he escaped, and set fire to the city.