page_title: Rama
section_title: Ramayana
hierarchical_section_title: Rama / Literary sources / Ramayana
caption_attribution_description: "Vishnu with his 10 avatars (incarnations): Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Rama with the Ax, King Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalkin. Painting from Jaipur, India, 19th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Opaque watercolour on paper. Height: 48.3 cm, Width: 39.5 cm. Acquired by the Indian Museum and transferred to the South Kensington Museum in 1879."
context_page_description: Rama or Ram also known as Ramachandra, is a major deity of Hinduism. He is 7th avatar of the God Vishnu, one of his most popular incarnations along with Krishna, Parshurama, and Gautama Buddha. Jain Texts also mentioned Rama as the eighth balabhadra among the 63 salakapurusas. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being.
  Rama was born to Kaushalya and Dasharatha in Ayodhya, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kosala. His siblings included Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna. He married Sita. Though born in a royal family, their life is described in the Hindu texts as one challenged by unexpected changes such as an exile into impoverished and difficult circumstances, ethical questions and moral dilemmas. Of all their travails, the most notable is the kidnapping of Sita by demon-king Ravana, followed by the determined and epic efforts of Rama and Lakshmana to gain her freedom and destroy the evil Ravana against great odds. The entire life story of Rama, Sita and their companions allegorically discusses duties, rights and social responsibilities of an individual. It illustrates dharma and dharmic living through model characters.
context_section_description: The primary source of the life of Rama is the Sanskrit epic Ramayana composed by Rishi Valmiki.
  The epic had many versions across India's regions. The followers of Madhvacharya believe that an older version of the Ramayana, the Mula-Ramayana, previously existed. The Madhva tradition considers it to have been more authoritative than the version by Valmiki.
  Versions of the Ramayana exist in most major Indian languages; examples that elaborate on the life, deeds and divine philosophies of Rama include the epic poem Ramavataram, and the following vernacular versions of Rama's life story:
  Ramavataram or Kamba-Ramayanam in Tamil by the poet Kambar in Tamil (12th century)
  Saptakanda Ramayana in Assamese by poet Madhava Kandali (14th century)
  Krittivasi Ramayan in Bengali by poet Krittibas Ojha (15th century)
  Ramcharitmanas in Hindi by sant Tulsidas (16th-century)
  Pampa Ramayana, Torave Ramayana by Kumara Valmiki and Sri Ramayana Darshanam by Kuvempu in Kannada;
  Ramayana Kalpavruksham by Viswanatha Satyanarayana and Ramayana by Ranganatha in Telugu;
  Vilanka Ramayana in Odia;
  Eluttachan in Malayalam (this text is closer to the Advaita Vedanta-inspired rendition Adhyatma Ramayana).
  The epic is found across India, in different languages and cultural traditions.
caption: Rama (left third from top) depicted in the Dashavatara (ten incornations) of Vishnu. Painting from Jaipur, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum
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