his article is about the original Sanskrit version by Valmiki.

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Ramayana

रामायणम्

Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana during exile in

forest, manuscript, ca. 1780

Information

Religion Hinduism

Author Valmiki

Language Sanskrit

Verses 24,000
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Rāmāyana (/rɑːˈmɑːjənə/;[1][2] Sanskrit: रामायणम्,[3] IAST: Rāmāyaṇam pronounced [raːˈmaːjɐɳɐm]) is one
of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and important text of Hinduism, the other being
the Mahābhārata.[4]
The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, a legendary
prince of Ayodhya city in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest
urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels
across forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping
of Sita by Ravana – the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return
to Ayodhya to be crowned king amidst jubilation and celebration.
The Ramayana is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. It consists of nearly
24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/Anustubh meter), divided into seven kāṇḍas, the first and
the seventh being later additions.[5] It belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events
(purāvṛtta), interspersed with teachings on the goals of human life. Scholars' estimates for the
earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE,[6][7] with later stages extending up to
the 3rd century CE.[8]
There are many versions of  Ramayana in Indian languages,
besides Buddhist, Sikh and Jain adaptations. There are
also Cambodian (Reamker), Indonesian, Filipino, Thai (Ramakien), Lao, Burmese and Malay version
s of the tale. Retellings include Kamban's Ramavataram in Tamil (c. 11th–12th century), Gona
Budda Reddy's Ranganatha Ramayanam in Telugu (c. 13th century), Madhava
Kandali's Saptakanda Ramayana in Assamese (c. 14th century), Krittibas Ojha's Krittivasi
Ramayan (also known as Shri Ram Panchali) in Bengali (c. 15th century), Sarala Das' Vilanka
Ramayana (c. 15th century)[9][10][11][12] and Balarama Dasa's Jagamohana Ramayana (also known as
the Dandi Ramayana) (c. 16th century) both in Odia, sant Eknath's Bhavarth Ramayan (c. 16th
century) in Marathi, Tulsidas' Ramcharitamanas (c. 16th century) in Awadhi (which is an eastern
form of Hindi) and Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan's Adhyathmaramayanam in Malayalam (c. 17th
century).
The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Hindu life and culture. The
characters Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman, and Ravana are all fundamental to the
cultural consciousness of the South Asian nations of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the South-East
Asian countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Its most important moral influence
was the importance of virtue, in the life of a citizen and in the ideals of the formation of a state or of a
functioning society.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Textual characteristics
o 2.1Genre
 o 2.2Structure
o 2.3Dating
o 2.4Recensions
 3Characters
 4Synopsis
o 4.1Bala Kanda
o 4.2Ayodhya Kanda
o 4.3Aranya Kanda
o 4.4Kishkindha Kanda
o 4.5Sundara Kanda
o 4.6Yuddha Kanda
o 4.7Uttara Kanda
 5Versions
o 5.1India
 5.1.1Early medieval recension from Bengal
 5.1.2Early references in Tamil literature
 5.1.3Buddhist version
 5.1.4Jain versions
 5.1.5Sikh version
o 5.2Nepal
o 5.3Southeast Asian
 5.3.1Cambodia
 5.3.2Indonesia
 5.3.3Laos
 5.3.4Malaysia
 5.3.5Myanmar
 5.3.6Philippines
 5.3.7Thailand
o 5.4Critical edition
 6Influence on culture and art
 7In popular culture
o 7.1Stage
o 7.2Plays
o 7.3Exhibitions
o 7.4Books
o 7.5Movies
o 7.6TV series
 8References
 9Sources
 10Further reading
 11External links