Leaf from a Kalighat album: Hanuman attacks Indrajit holding an apparition of Sita by the hair (recto); Goddesses Lakshmi and Sarasvati (verso)

Executed in the Kalighat style, this painting features bold, bright colors and simplified, expressive forms against an unadorned background. The composition's energy and the use of symbolic colors (e.g., blue for the divine, red for the feminine) are hallmark techniques of this 19th-century Indian folk art tradition.

Emerging in 19th-century Kolkata, Kalighat paintings like this one catered to a broad audience, including pilgrims and locals, by depicting familiar mythological and everyday themes in an accessible, stylized manner. This work reflects the synthesis of traditional Indian iconography with the influences of colonial-era urbanization.