King Dasaratha and His Retinue Proceed to Rama's Wedding: Folio from the Shangri Ramayana Series (Style II) (c. 1700-1710)

Unknown Artist

Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

A vivid procession unfolds across a brilliant mustard-yellow ground, with King Dasaratha enthroned in an ornate green chariot as warriors, musicians, and elephant riders accompany him toward his son Rama's wedding. Painted in the bold, flattened style of the Pahari hills, the composition bursts with rhythmic repetition—rearing horses, raised bows, fluttering banners—rendered in saturated reds, blues, and greens against the radiant backdrop. This folio belongs to a celebrated dispersed manuscript of the Hindu epic Ramayana, created by anonymous master painters for a royal court in the Himalayan foothills, whose fine detail and narrative energy have made the series one of the most treasured examples of Pahari painting. Its jewel-like palette and lively storytelling bring centuries-old devotional artistry into any contemporary space.