Sugriva challenges his brother Vali, King of the Forest Dwellers, to a duel, folio 10 from the Kishkindha Kanda (Book of Kishkindha) of a Ramayana (Rama’s Journey)

The folio belongs to the broad tradition of illustrated Indian epics, in which episodes of the Ramayana were rendered as serial manuscript paintings for devotional and courtly audiences. Its survival in a major museum collection contributes to the study of Ramayana imagery and Pahari manuscript painting.

The work depicts a dramatic confrontation in a forest setting, centered on a white‑skinned, crowned figure with a red sash who raises his arms in a challenging gesture. Behind him stands a dark‑skinned figure with a blue face and a serpentine tail, observing the scene. To the left a woman in green holds a branch while a child looks up at her, and to the right a group of red‑skinned, horned beings with large eyes sit on rocks, some bearing weapons.

Executed in vivid pigments, the painting employs exaggerated proportions and bright, contrasting colors to heighten the narrative drama. Gold jewelry on the central figure and the use of red and blue tones for the secondary characters create visual hierarchy. The stylized, almost caricatured rendering of faces and bodies reflects a traditional Indian illustrative approach to epic storytelling.