HELVAJIAN PRESS

The Ramayana

The Ramayana
Ah! Warriors' strength is poor and slight; A
Brhman's power is truly might. This Brhman staff
the hermit held. The fury of my darts has quelled.
-Valmiki, Ramayana

Janaka, the king of Mithila, organizes a

ceremony to identify a suitable bridegroom for
his lovely daughter, Sita. Princes from all around

Ramas father had three wives and four sons.

the land are invited and challenged to string a

Rama was the eldest followed by Bharata who

giant bow to prove their worth as husband. Only

was the son of the second and favorite wife,

the mighty Rama of Ayodhya, lifts the bow,

Kaikeyi. The other two sons were twins,

strings it and breaks it into two halves. Sita and

Lakshmanaa and Shatrughana, from the third

Rama get married and become the ideal royal

wife Sumitra

couple. Rama is brave, wise and dutiful. Sita is

Kaikeyi, Ramas stepmother refuses Rama as

beautiful, generous and saintly.

king because she wanted Bharata to take over the

throne. Before the aged king Dasaratha performs
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the crowning ceremony, he unexpectedly dies.

Instead of being crowned king of Ayodhya, Rama
is sent into exile by his evil stepmother.
Rama goes to the forest, accompanied by his wife
Sita and his brother Lakshmanaa. They live
among the forest people and meditate for
fourteen years. Bharata, the son of the evil
stepmother, goes to meet Rama in the forest and
pleads with him to return and be king. Rama
declines to break his vow made to his deceased
father. Bharata goes back to Ayodhya with
Ramas sandals, and puts them on the throne as a
means to display the real king, Rama.
In the forest, Ravana, the ten headed god, falls in
love with Ramas wife Sita. The god forces his
servant, Maricha, to disguise himself as a golden
deer which tempts Rama and Lakshmana away
from Sita. Lakshmana draws a protective circle in
the dirt around Sita and tells her not to step out

of the circle. Ravana disguises himself as an old

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beggar man and begs Sita, who takes pity on him

the ocean, escaping many demons sent out by the

and steps out of the circle. The beggar man turns

evil Ravana.

into Ravana and grabs Sita and pulls her into his
magic flying chariot. Sita cries for help and
throws her necklace to the ground, in the hope

that Rama might find it and save her.

Hanuman shrinks to the size of a mouse and runs

through Lanka, looking for Sita. When He finds
her, he drops Rama's ring into her lap, and tells
her Rama will come and save her. Then, some

When they realize Sita is lost, Rama and

Lakshmana set out looking for Sita. They meet

demons catch Hanuman and bring him to

Ravana, who commands Hanuman's tail be set to
fire.

Sugreeva the Monkey King, and Jambuvan, the

King of the Bears who decide to help them search
for Sita. A giant ocean separates them from
Lanka, where Sita is located. The Monkeys and
Bears decide that since Hanuman, the son of the
wind God, is best at jumping he must leap to
Lanka. Rama gives Hanuman his ring, to give to
Sita. Hanuman prays to his father and leaps over
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As the demons begin to wrap the oil soaked

cotton around Hanuman's tail, Hanuman makes
his tail grow really long and then quickly shrinks
back to the size of a mouse, escaping and setting
Ravana's throne on fire. Hanuman dips his fiery
tail in the sea, and leaps back to Rama,
Lakshmana, the Bears.

Lakshmana is badly wounded on the battlefield

Rama, Lakshmana, the Bears, and Hanuman

and Hanuman must leap to the Himalayas and

build a bridge to Lanka with magic and cross to

bring back the healing herb from the Medicine

Lanka where a battle breaks out between

Mountain to save Lakshmanaa's life. So

Ravana's demon army and Rama's animal army.

Hanuman jumps to the Medicine Mountain, but

does not know the right herb to bring. So
Hanuman brings the whole mountain to Lanka.
Thanks to Hanuman, Lakshmana is healed and
filled with energy
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Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, the Bears, and Hanuman
Rama and Ravana fight with magic weapons and

cross the bridge, which later sings leaving a trail

using fists. Rama thinks Ravana is indestructible,

of rocks to Lanka. As the band walks across India,

until he finds death hidden in his body. Ravana is

people come out of their houses and place little

killed. The Monkeys and Bears find Sita and she

lamps on their doorsteps to light their way way

is set free with great rejoicing.

When Rama finds Sita, he is suddenly unable to

trust her. He believes that she has betrayed him
with Ravana. Sita is mad and says she is innocent.
She tells Lakshmana to build a fire and she will
walk into it, the fire will burn her if she has done
anything wrong. Sita steps into the flames slowly
and stands in the middle, unharmed. Suddenly,
the flames she is walking on turn to flowers and
Rama begs for forgiveness.

Bibiliography
Ramanarayanadatta. "The Swayamvara of
Panchala's Princess, Draupadi.
"www.wikipedia.org. WikiMedia, 1 Jan. 1965.
Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Pinto, Beatrice. Rama, Sita, Lakshmanaa.
Digital image. Wikimedia. MediaWiki, 23 Mar.
2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Pradesh, Himachal. Rama's Court, Folio from
a Ramayana. Digital image.Wikimedia.
MediaWiki, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Still celebrated today, the Festival of Lights, also
known as Diwali, instructs people to place lights
in their windows to welcome Sita into their
homes and remember that light will always
conquer darkness.

Singh, Satinder. Dipavali-Coventry. Digital

image. Sikh Holidays. MediaWiki, 24 Aug. 2007.
Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Varma, Raja Ravi. Maruti. Digital image.
Wikimedia. MediaWiki, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Hanuman Visits Sita in Lanka, Folio from a
Ramayana (Adventures of Rama). Digital image.
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Wikimedia. MediaWiki, 18 Jan. 2013. Web. 18

Nov. 2015.

U NTITLED