'Adventures of Rama', is an epic, one of the two religious books of the Hindus. The other is the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. It is written in verse and believed to have been composed by Sage Valmiki, a contemporary of Rama. The Ramayana is a part of the smritis.
The epic consists of 24,000 couplets and is believed to have been first written around the third century BC. The incidents it narrates are said to have occurred in the Treta Yuga. This is the story of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, who was born on earth to kill the demon king Ravana of Lanka, and to re-establish righteousness in the world.
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Having done severe penance, Ravana had been granted a boon by Brahma, which gave him immunity from being killed by any god, gandharva, or demon. Believing he was immortal, he started persecuting both gods and men, who then appealed to Vishnu for help. Since Ravana had not been granted immunity against humans, Vishnu took the Ramayana form of a man to put an end to Ravana's attrocities. This form was Rama.
The Ramayana explains the teachings of the Vedas in the form of stories, to spread learning and understanding amongst all. It teaches philosophy, politics, the concept of duty and the different kinds of duties, morality and truth, in an easy and simplified manner to those who cannot understand the complex language of the Vedas. It expounds ideal behavior and the ideal way of life. It emphasises the importance of the spoken word, especially a promise made by anyone in a responsible position. It also highlights the strength of Hindu women, and the sacrifice they are capable of.
Briefly, the story is as follows: Dasharatha, the wise and just king of Ayodhya, had three wives. The eldest queen, Kaushalya, had a son named Rama. The second queen, Keikeyi, had a son named Brahma, and the youngest queen, Sumitra, had two sons named Lakshmana and Shatrughna after ruling for many years, Dasharatha decided to retire and crown his eldest son Rama, kings of Ayodhya. However, a day before the coronation, When Dasharatha consented, she asked him to banish Rama to the forest for 14 years, and to make her own son, Bharata, the king. Bound by his word, Dasharatha was forced to send Rama on a 14-year exile. Rama's wife Sita and one of his brothers, Lakshmana, decided to accompany him. Meanwhile, Dasharatha, unable to contain his grief at having had to banish his favourite son, died.
Bharata was away from Ayodhya when this happened. On his return, when his mother told
him what she had done, he was enraged. He loved his brother and did not want to rule in
his place. 
He set out in search of Rama and found him at the entrance of the forest. However, no
amount of persuasion would convince Rama to return, for he believed he had to fulfil his
dharma, by following his father's instructions. He refused to return to Ayodhya until his
exile ended. Bharata returned to Ayodhya with Rama's slippers, which he placed on the
throne as Rama's symbol and ruled as his brother's regent. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana
settled down to lead the life of ascetics in the forest. There, Shoorpanakha, Ravana's
sister, saw Rama and fell in love with him. She tried to seduce him, without success.
Believing that Sita was the cause for Rama's inattention to her, Shoorpanakha attacked
Sita. Enraged, Lakshmana slashed off her nose and ears. Shoorpanakha then ran to Ravana,
to ask him to avenge her disgrace. She persuaded him to do so by telling him about Sita's
exceptional beauty. Ravana tricked Rama and Lakshmana into leaving their hermitage. While
Sita was alone, he abducted her and took her to his kingdom. When Rama and Lakshmana
returned, they found her missing. During their search for her, they met Jatayu, the aged
eagle king. Jatayu had fought with Ravana to try and save Sita. He told the princes what
had happened, and they resolved to rescue her. 
In this endeavor, they were assisted by an army of monkeys led by their king, Sugriva. Hanuman, the son of Vayu and general of the monkeys, became a devotee of Rama. The army crossed the sea to Lanka with Hanuman at the helm and fought a hard battle. Rama defeated and killed Ravana and rescued Sita. However, Rama was reluctant to accept Sita back, because she had lived in the home of another man for almost a year. But Sita proved her innocence by an ordeal of fire. Agni vouched for her chastity and handed her, unscathed, to Rama, who now welcomed her back. As the 14-year exile had also come to an end, Rama and Sita, along with Lakshmana, returned to Ayodhya Rama was crowned king
. Rama and Sita lived happily for some time. Yet there were people in the kingdom who were unhappy about the fact that their queen had lived in the house of another man for so long. Rama convinced that his queen had to be above suspicion banished a pregnant Sita from Ayodhya. She went to live in Sage Valmiki's hermitage, where she gave birth to twin sons, Luv and Kusha. The boys grew up in the hermitage and were educated by Valmiki. When they were about 15 years old, they went to Ayodhya and encountered Rama, who asked them about Sita. When he learnt that she was at the hermitage, he went there to bring her back to Ayodhya. However, he said that for the sake of his subjects, she would have to prove her innocence publicly, with yet another trial by fire. Even Sita's enduring spirit could not bear this final cruelty. She called upon her mother, the Earth, to prove her chastity and take her back into her arms forever. Bhoodevi, the Earth, parted under Sita's feet to accept her. As Sita was being swallowed by the Earth, Kusha tried to save his mother but was unsuccessful (see Kusha Grass). Heartbroken, Rama decided to give up his life and took jala samadhi by walking into the Sarayu River.
The epic is divided into seven sections, or kandas:
- Bal Kanda, the boyhood sections.
- Ayodhya Kanda, the section at Ayodhya, including the banishment of Rama.
- Aranya Kanda, the forest section, including Rama's life in the forest and Sita's abduction by Ravana.
- Kishkindha Kanda, the section describing Rama's stay at Kishkindha, the capital of his monkey ally, Sugriva.
- Sundara Kanda, the beautiful section, including the description of Rama's passage to Lanka and his arrival there.
- Yuddha Kanda, the war section, describing the war with Ravana, his death, Ramayana the recovery of Sita, and the return to Ayodhya. It is also known as the Lanka Kanda.
- Uttara Kanda, the later section, including Rama's life in Ayodhya as king, the banishment of Sita, the birth of her two sons, Sita's test of innocence, her return to her mother, and Rama's jala samadhi. This section was added after the main story had been written.
There are two popular versions of the Ramayana. One is the Valmiki Ramayana, believed to have been composed and written by Sage Valmiki. The other is Tulasidasa' version called the Ramcharitmanas. For centuries, the story existed only orally in Sanskrit. The Ramcharitmanas was the first 'popular Ramayana' written in a dialect of Hindi, the language of ordinary people. With the spreading popularity of the Ramayana, other versions of the epic, including one in Tamil in verse by a sage named Kanbar, soon came about. Along with the Mahabharata, the story of Rama became the inspiration for dance, song, and theatrical themes. Interestingly, many regional versions of the Ramayana, most notably the Ramcharitmanas, do not include the last section, the Uttara Khand. Of Tulasidasa, it is said that he was such a devout follower of Rama that he could not accept his idol having banished a pregnant wife to the forest. So he ended his version of the story with Rama and Sita's return to Ayodhya.
The Ramayana is the source of many stories told to children to teach them about duty, correct behavior and other moral concepts. Its appeal lies in the human frailties it explores and the utopian concept of 'Ramarajya', in which Rama, the perfect and just king ruled over a happy kingdom, free from want and war.
RamayanaThe Ramayana is still narrated in Ramlilas, especially during Dushehra. It continues to reiterate the comforting theory that good prevails over evil.
