The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe

The Rama epic — recounting the struggle of Prince Rama to defeat a demonic king, rescue his abducted wife, and reestablish order in the world — has been a subject for visual and performing arts, literature and religious thought in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia for many centuries.

A huge number of artworks relating to the Rama legends have been made over the course of 1,500 years in a dozen countries. The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe illustrates some of the most important episodes involving the four primary characters: the hero, Rama; the heroine, Rama's wife Sita; the ally, Rama's faithful monkey lieutenant Hanuman; and the foe, the ten-headed demon king Ravana.

• Edited by Forrest McGill, Wattis Senior Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
• Introduction by Pika Ghosh, associate professor of art history at the University of North Carolina
• Essay by Robert P. Goldman, professor of Sanskrit and Catherine and William L. Magistretti distinguished professor in South and Southeast Asian studies at UC Berkeley
• Essay by Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, senior lecturer in the department of South and Southeast Asian studies at UC Berkeley
• Essay by Philip Lutgendorf, professor of Hindi and modern Indian studies at the University of Iowa
• Size: 9” x 12”
• 330 full-color illustrations
• Pages: 228
• Hardcover and paperback
• Publication date: October 2016