By Ajay Anand
Ramayana
Ayodhya’s king Dashratha conducted the Putryeshti Yajna. The god of fire, Agni, appeared and gave Dashratha the boon to have sons.
In due course of time, king Dashratha was blessed with four sons. Their names are; Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.
Dasharatha had three queens. Kushalya’s son was Rama. Kaikeyi’s son was Bharata. Sumitra’s sons were Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
The four brothers were sent to the Gurukul (traditional boarding school), where they became experts of all the crafts and knowledge.
After that, sage Vishwamitra came and asked Dasharatha to send Rama and Lakshmana along with him. He wanted to take Rama’s help to get rid of demons which were terrorizing the saints. At one of the ashrama (abode), Rama killed a dreaded demon Tadka.
After that, Rama, Lakshmana and Vishwamitra reached Mithila, the kingdom of king Janaka. In Mithila, Rama met Sita for the first time in a floral garden (pushpa vatika).
At the event of Sita Swayamvar, Rama easily broke the famous bow of Lord Shiva. As per the condition of the Swayamvar, Janaka agreed to marry his daughter Sita with Rama.
After that, Rama got married with Sita. Remaining brothers of Rama got married with remaining princesses of Mithila.
The ageing king Dashratha decided to handover the reigns of the kingdom to Rama. Everyone in the kingdom was happy at this decision.
But Manthara was quite sad on hearing about Rama’s coronation. She was the favorite maid of Kaikeyi.
Under the influence of Manthara, Kaikeyi made two demands from Dashratha. The first demand was to make Bharata the king of Ayodhya. The second demand was to send Rama into exile in the forest.
Dashratha ordered Rama to go to the forest to live in exile. Dashratha was bound by his promise made to Kaikeyi.
Sumanta (a loyal minister of Dashratha) took Rama and Lakshmana on a chariot and proceeded to forest. People of Ayodhya followed them, wailing inconsolably.
After traveling quite far, Rama, Lakshmana and Sita needed a boat to cross the Ganges. The boatman Kewat first washed Rama’s feet. He was afraid that his boat would turn into a woman if touched by Rama’s feet.
After washing Rama’s feet, Kewat requested Rama, Lakshmana and Sita to ride on his boat to cross the Ganges.
Dashratha was so disturbed of parting with his favorite son that he died within a few days.
After Dashratha’s death, Bharata was not willing to become king. He went to the forest to cajole Rama to come back.
When Rama refused to return, Bharata took Rama’s footwear (wooden cog). After coming back to Ayodhya, Bharata put the footwear on the throne and then took the responsibility of ruling over Ayodhya.
One day, Ravana’s sister Shoorpnakha reached near Rama’s hut. She expressed her desire to marry with Rama. When the debate with Shoorpnakha rose too much, Lakshmana chopped her nose with a knife.
Ravana was highly angry when he saw Shoorpnakha in bad shape. He asked his Marich mama (maternal uncle) for help to take revenge. Marich camouflaged to become a golden deer and went near Rama’s hut.
Sita wanted the hide of the golden deer. So, Rama moved ahead to kill the golden deer. After that, Lakshmana was befooled to go into the jungle to search for Rama. Finding Sita alone, Ravana kidnapped her.
When Rama and Lakshmana did not find Sita in the hut, they started searching for her in every possible direction.
While searching for Sita, they met the injured Jatayu, the king of vultures. He got injured while stopping Ravana from taking away Sita. Jatayu told that Ravana took Sita towards south.
In their pursuit of Sita, both brothers reached Kishkindha. There, they met Sugriva, the king of monkeys. Sugriva had been thrown into exile by his brother Bali.
Rama asked Sugriva to challenge Bali for a bout of wrestling. When both brothers were engaged in the bout, Rama aimed an arrow and killed Bali. After that, Sugriva became the king of Kishkindha.
Once the rainy season was over, Rama sent packs of monkeys and bears in every direction to search for Sita. He gave a ring as a token of identification to Hanuman, when Hanuman was about to start.
Hanuman, along with other monkeys and bears reached the sea shore. He got to know that Sita was held captive at Lanka, across the ocean. So, Hanuman mustered all his powers and jumped high in sky to cross the ocean.
In Lanka, Hanuman came to know that Sita was kept in the Ashok Vatika (Garden of Ashoka Trees). She was heavily guarded by many ferocious demons and witches.
At an opportune time, Hanuman went near Sita. Hanuman showed the ring given by Rama. This was enough for Sita to rely on Hanuman.
After that Hanuman was captured by the soldiers of Meghnad, the son of Ravana. Ravana ordered to set Hanuman’s tail on fire. After that, Hanuman burnt the whole city of Lanka with that fire.
After Hanuman came back with proper information, Rama went ahead with his army of monkeys and bears to reach the sea shore. He worshipped Lord Shiva at the sea shore.
A bridge, called Ram Setu was built to cross the ocean. This job was done under the supervision of Nala and Neel. They were brothers and were expert architects.
The Monkey Army crossed the ocean through Ram Setu. Then a ferocious battle ensued at Lanka. At last, Rama killed Ravana.
Ravana’s brother Vibhishana was anointed the king of Lanka, after Ravana’s demise. After that Rama, Lakshmana and Sita along with other monkeys and bears returned to Ayodhya aboard the Pushpaka Vimana (God’s Airplane).
The whole Ayodhya celebrated Diwali to celebrate Rama’s return. Rama’s coronation happened in a grand ceremony. Thus, there was a happy ending of the Ramayana.