The Rama Epic

"Exhibition catalogue for The Rama Epic--recounting the struggle of Prince Rama to defeat a powerful demonic king, rescue his abducted wife and reestablish virtuous order in the world. The epic has been a prime 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 of all kinds relating to the Rama legends have been made over the course of 1500 years in a dozen countries. This book 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. The catalogue tells the story in a new light using more than 130 artworks, ranging from paintings to puppets to decorative arts to contemporary works to ephemera, inviting readers to find echoes of their own experiences in the stories and dilemmas of each of the characters"--

One of the ancient world's great verse epics is retold in energetic English prose in this sparkling volume.

The situation was dire when the gods appealed to their leader, Vishnu, for help. Ravana, the ten-headed king of the Rakshasas, and his brothers had acquired extraordinary powers from the gods. Instead of using those powers for good, they had begun to practice tyranny and evil, suppressing virtue and goodness wherever they found it. If something wasn’t done soon, the evil ones would destroy the worlds and make everyone slaves. They tell Vishnu that the two gods that granted Ravana and his brothers their power cannot withdraw it. But Vishnu has a plan: Ravana can be killed by a human or animal because he never asked for protection from them, so he incarnates as the four sons of Dasaratha to destroy Ravana and all those who help him Meanwhile, Vishnu’s wife, Lakshmi, also incarnates into human form, but the two gods will need to overcome many obstacles to discover each other on earth. Even if they do, they’ll need to use all the tools at their disposal to defeat the evil ones and save the world.

The volume contains thirty contributions to the theme of the classical Indian epic Ramayana. These are revised and occasionally enlarged versions of papers read at the International Ramanaya Conference, held at the University of Leuven in July 1991 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Sanskrit and Indological studies in Leuven and in Belgium. The annotated papers, in English, have been grouped in three chapters: 1. Valmiki's Ramayana and Sanskrit epic literature; 2. International impact: translations and adaptations, reception of Sanskrit language and literature in the scholarly world; 3. Universal human values in Ramayana. The index of names, titles and key words will prove useful for reference and occasional cross-reference.

Discover the Ramayana—one of India’s most celebrated epics, and a story that transcends time itself. The tale of Rama, the exiled prince of Ayodhya who battles the evil Ravana, the king of Lanka, and rescues his abducted wife, Sita, is about much more than the eternal battle of good versus evil. It is a tale of love, friendship, loyalty, devotion, righteousness, and deliverance. Ramayana and Rama, whose journey is told in the epic, are embedded in India’s cultural consciousness, but they transcend borders. Various versions of the Ramayana can be found across the Indian subcontinent and in parts of southeast Asia. Created in consultation with distinguished economist, scholar, and translator Dr. Bibek Debroy, The Illustrated Ramayana draws from one of its earliest composers, the celebrated sage and poet Valmiki. It uses a combination of text and stunning images drawn from a variety of sources—historic and contemporary artifacts, paintings, photographs, and performances—to tell Rama’s story as he walks the path that destiny creates for him.

Ramayana is the sky; Rama is in its blue,All across the space, in the light of truth. Ramayana is the cloud and Rama is the rain, Of wisdom in life between pleasure and pain. Ramayana is a river; Rama is the boat,To float from banks of evil, to the divine shore.Ramayana is the ocean with lessons in the deep,Rama is the salt in the food that we eat. Ramayana is the fire where Rama is the flame, Burns the evil desire,’Ravana’ is the name.In the wind of life, Ramayana is the breeze, Where Rama is ‘virtue’- the air that we breathe. The object of this work on ‘Ramayana’, is to place before the general reader, the leading story of the Epic in a poetic format. A simple style of expression is maintained to keep it attractive for the youngsters to read and comprehend easily. This version is sufficient for the youngsters to be inspired to explore into the interpretations of the epic as given in many versions, in different languages by many poets and pundits of the past and scholars of the present and the future.This version does not detail the Uttra Kanda which as per legend is not written by ‘Valmiki’ who has written the other parts. Rama’s coronation is the last part of Yuddha Kanda where we stop and stay.

Skrajšana verzija Valmikijeve Ramajane.