The Story of Rama- A Mythological Novel

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

In this book, the story of Rama has been told explicably and vividly in fictional style. It is a mythological novel written in autobiographical mode. The primary source of inspiration has been the Ramayana of Valmiki composed in Sanskrit in the 5th century BC, which goes into twenty-four thousand couplets in the present form. Having been transformed from epic poetry into fictional prose, the novel, written in a simple lucid style, provides an exhaustive account of the great epic character, in his own words. Rama is unquestionably one of the tallest figures in Indian history and culture while Sita represents the best of Indian womanhood. Both of them are, traditionally, treated as incarnations. And yet, the whole story has been presented rationally, from characterization to accounts of events, with a human perspective that can be of interest to a modern reader anywhere.

The story of Rama could have happened anywhere 1 anytime, but it happened in India in the 18th century B.C. If one shreds off the myths, the legends, and the supernatural, it could happen anywhere even in the modern times. It belongs to all humanity everywhere. The universality of its theme and significance of its message are eternal. Valmiki, the author of the great epic Ramayana' i.e. "The Journey of Rama' placed somewhere between the 8th and the 5th century B.C. presented his work in his own way in forty-eight thousand couplets in Sanskrit. However, it has been rewritten in hundreds of ways, in thousands of versions, in scores of languages, in a number of countries, and in different ages. Every now and then, an urge is felt to recast the Ramayana in order to reflect the need of the age; or to reinterpret some of its events; or to re-focus on one or the other aspect of its intricate situations; or to employ a different genre, language or style; or just to pay homage to the great personality of Rama, commonly considered an incarnation. Excerpts from this epic have been adopted in thousands of short stories, novels, plays and dramas, poetries, children's literature, and in many other forms. Its themes or motifs have been used in innumerable temples, paintings, sculptures, music, and dance sequences from time immemorial. This profoundness inherent in the basic structure of its plot, the sequence of its events, and the portrayal of its characters along with all of their interwoven intricacies have ever had an overpowering mass appeal in its unique and unparalleled way.