One of Rama's sons carried by the monkey hero Hanuman, from the Cambodian or Thai version of the epic of Rama

The great Hindu epic the Ramayana (Thai: Rammakian) has been well known in many parts of Southeast Asia for more than a thousand years. There are numerous retellings in the Thai, Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, and Malay languages. Scenes from the Ramayana have long been enacted in courtly dance-drama and less formal popular drama, and in the puppet theater. They are also frequently found in sculpture and painting. Here, Rama's brother Lakshmana (Thai: Phra Lak) rides into battle on the shoulders of the heroic monkey Hanuman. Lakshmana is recognizable by his princely attire and light skin; Rama has a similar appearance but in Thai painting is usually shown with green skin. Hanuman normally has only two arms; in Thailand, however, he is sometimes shown in combat with four arms, suggesting his great strength.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, painting traditions in Thailand and Cambodia were quite similar, and it is not yet clear where this painting was made.