RAMAYANA

RAMAYANA

INTRODUCTION
Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic poem written by Valmiki. In the modern generation, it had various versions coming from movies and plays. The story talks about Rama’s exile to the forest of Dandak. How he had saved his wife, Sita from the monster king, Ravan is also narrated here.
This essay will talk about the relations of the story and the Indian history, cultures and traditions. It will also talk about the connections of modern traditions, cultures and places in India. This will also include my reactions to traditions and cultures.


BODY
In the story, the Kingdom of Kosalas and the Videhas had powerful races. They made their friendly bond in a contest held which united the two kingdoms. According to Wikipedia, The Kingdom of Kosala was an ancient Indian kingdom. It has two capitals, Shravasti and Ayodhya, which is believed to be the birthplace of Rama. It has the language of Sanskrit and religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. The kingdom of Videhas, on the other hand, was an ancient kingdom in Late Vedic India which rose to prominence under King Janaka. It has Janakpur as its capital, which is the center for religious and cultural tourism. It still has Sanskrit as its language and has the religion of Vedic Hinduism.

In the next part of the story, Sita, the daughter of Janak, was to be wedded of whoever wins the archery contest. Rama, the son of Dasa-ratha, had won the contest and was decided to become king of the Videhas. In the history of Indian marriages, arranged marriage is a tradition in the societies of the Indian subcontinent, and continues to account for an overwhelming majority of marriages in the Indian subcontinent. Arranged marriage tradition lacks any official legal recognition or support, the institution has proved to be "surprisingly robust". One of the wedding systems in India is the Swayamvara, which is the method used in Ramayana. This method was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. In Sanskrit, Swayam means ‘self’ and Vara means ‘groom’. In my opinion, this tradition should stop. I respect parents who only want the best for their daughters, but their daughters also have a life. They should know how to be independent in this kind of situation. The parents are not the getting married, but it’s their children. They should also learn how to respect, accept and support their child’s wishes and decisions, in that way they can provide the best thing for their children.Rama, together with Sita and Lakshman, was exiled to Dandak forest. They crossed the Ganges River and into the wilderness until they reached the hermitage of Valmiki. The Dandak forest is originally called Dandaka or Dandakaranya. In Sanskrit, Aranya means “forest”. The forest was a location of the Danda Kingdom, which is a region frequently mentioned in Indian mythology. The Danda Kingdom has a stronghold of the Rakshasa tribes. Ganges River, also known as Ganga, is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh. Valmiki is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. Ramayana is attributed to him, based on the attribution in the text itself. Ramayana is originally written by Valmiki. Before Ramayana was written, once when he was strolling in the silent forest enjoying nature, a couple of birds were singing on the tree happily. A hunter shot at the female bird which fell down dead causing agony to its partner. Moved by this pitiable sight, Valmiki cursed the hunter for causing the grave situation. Meanwhile, Lord Brahma appeared in front of him and said he need not worry due to his act since it was divinely inspired by him. It was destined that Valmiki should compose the great epic of Ramayana, the story of Sri Rama's noble life and accomplishments on this earth.

Bharat, Rama’s brother, went to the forest and find him. When he reached to Rama he persuaded Rama to come back to Kosalas and rule, but Rama refused. Instead, Bharat took Rama’s slippers and put it on the throne to symbolize Rama’s ruling. Slippers represent the hero's indifference to life outside his home. But they also symbolize the domestic space, the feeling of leaving the worries of the world at the door, and the safety and comfort that only one's abode can offer. Ancient Indian kings usually come from empires and tribes like, King Sudās who was an Indo-Aryan tribal king of the Bhāratas during the main or middle Rigvedic period.The peaceful life of Rama and Sita in the forest was disrupted by Rakshna, a princess. Rama refused her scorn and gave Lakshman instead, but his brother also refused. Revengeful, Rakshna went to her brother, Ravan, the monster king, to ask for help. Ravan, or Ravana in real life, is also worshipped by 79.8% of Hindus in some part of the India, Sri Lanka and Bali (Indonesia). He is considered to be the most revered devotee of Shiva.
The story ends with Rama saving Sita. Then, Rama, Sita and Lakshman travelled though India with an aerial car. An aerial car is now known as boats, or vehicles that transport in water. In this, Rama and Sita’s devotion to each other, for me, are what people dream of their relationships. Having Sita as a loyal partner when she was kidnapped is every spouse’s dream to their other halves, while having Rama as a strong and bold husband is every wife’s dream in a marriage. Their love story is not a typical one. We can rarely see these types of relationships and these kinds of relationships should be a highly recommended model for all relationships out there.

CONCLUSIONThe story was connected with the traditions of the ancient Indian subcontinent. There are places in the modern generation that are marked as a symbol of Rama’s life, or exile. Like, the hermitage of Valmiki was now also addressed as Rama’s Country. The monster king, Ravan was now praised and worshipped because of his similar nature and character with Shiva, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. Thus, the Indian epics often relate to the country’s culture, tradition and history.
REFERENCES
• Wikipedia
• Theatlantic.com
• Speekingtree.in