Ramayana

The Ramayana (रामायण) is an ancient Hindu epic about Rama and Sita. It is one of the two most important ancient epics of [India], the first one being the ancient Mahabharata.. The epic was originally written by sage (rishi) Valmiki of Ancient India. The book has about 24,000 verses and is divided into six parts.

The story of the Ramayana is about Prince Rama who has been exiled from his kingdom of ([Ayodhya]) with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman. He goes on to kill [king] Ravana of Lanka in a long battle to get back his wife Sita.

Seven different versions of the book are available. It has been translated into all the major languages of the world.

The different parts of the Ramayana are also called books. These seven parts or books are noted below:

 The first book is Balakand, meaning the book of childhood.
 The second book is Ayodhyakanda, meaning the book of Ayodhya.
 The third book is Aranyakanda, meaning the book of the forests.
 The fourth book is Kishkindhakanda, meaning the book of Kishkindha.
 The fifth book is Sundarakanda, meaning the book beautiful.
 The sixth book is Yuddhakanda, meaning the book of the war.

There are different views about the time the Ramayana was written. Some people believe that it was written 2,500 years ago. Others think that it was written around 1,800 years ago. All agree that the book is very old and was written before the Mahabharata.

The Ramayana is still very popular today. Every autumn the Ramlila (Rama play) is performed at the festival of Dassehra. A huge model of Ravana is set alight. This symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness. It is also believed that he turned in to Krishna and also many more things are believed.

A Tamil version of the book was written between the 9th and 10th centuries. The writer of this book was Kamban. This version is known as Iramavataram, which means the coming of Rama. In the 16th century, Tulasidas wrote a Hindi version of Ramayana. This was named Ramacharitmanasa. Over many centuries, the story of Rama reached places in other countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. The Ramayana has been translated into most of the major languages of the world.

The Ramayana was used in Ancient India for the teaching of young children. It was mainly used for acting out their Dharma so that their children knew that they were to worship the main Hindu beliefs that were: Brahman, Multiple Gods, Dharma, Samsara, and Karma.

There is a series of the Ramayana played on television in major parts of India and goes into the detail of the Ramayana, if you don't like reading books.

The short and basic story of the Ramayana is, a prince named Rama tries to rescue his wife from the clutch of Ravana with an army of bears and several "vanaras" who are like apes.

Category:Hindu texts
Category:2nd millennium BC works