HISTORICITY OF RAMA

LORD RAMA

Lord Rama, one of the most important deity of Hinduism, is considered as one of the 10 avatars (7^th avatar) of Lord Vishnu.

He and his stories are dated as back as in the Treta Yuga, about 1.2 million years ago. He is a very important deity in Vaishnavism (a religion in India). Lord Rama is the protagonist of the epic of Ramayana.

Although born in a royal family, had to struggle for a long period of time.

The entire life story of Rama, Sita and their companions allegorically discusses duties, rights and social responsibilities of an individual. It illustrates dharma and dharmic living through model characters. Lord Rama was the son of King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya. He was half-brothers to Laskhmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. He was married to Sita of Janakpuri.

MENTIONS OF LORD RAMA

Ramayana is one of the major Sanskrit epics along with Mahabharata of ancient India. There is an idea that Narada passed on the knowledge of the Ramayana to Valmiki, who authored Valmiki Ramayana, the present oldest available version of Ramayana. The Ramayana has spread to many Asian countries outside of India, including Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, SriLanka, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam and China. There are many different versions of Ramayana like Adhyatma Ramayana or spiritual Ramayana which is extracted from the Brahmananda Purana, traditionally ascribed to Vyas. It is thought to be the inspiration for Tulsidas’ Ramacharitmanas in Awadhi. While the Valmiki Ramayana emphasizes Rama's human nature, the Adhyatam Ramayana tells the story from the perspective of his divinity. It is organized into seven Kandas, parallel to Valmiki's.

Some other versions of Ramayana are:

Ø Adbhuta Ramayana and many more.

INTERPRETATION OF LORD RAMA IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS

In Buddhism - Dasarata Jataka. This version is notable for depicting Rama and Sita as siblings who marry. Such sibling marriages are a common symbolic imagery in early Buddhist literature to denote purity of a dynasty. As the Buddha is supposed to have come from the Ikshvaku clan (of Rama), this symbolized his dynastic merits.

In Jainism - Paumachariyam, the most influential among the Jain versions is written as a polemic against Sanskrit versions asserting that all characters in the Ramayana were mere mortals who engaged in conflict over moral issues. The only superhuman feat mentioned is Ravana's ability to fly through the clouds (meghavahana). All characters are depicted as Jains and the Rama, Sita and Lakshmana visit Jain pilgrimage sites rather than ashrams (as in Valmiki Ramayana) during their stay in the forest.

Sikhism - In the Guru Granth Sahib Rama is in ‘inner soul’, Sita is ‘buddhi’ and Lakshmana is ‘mann’ while Ravana is ‘ego’.

SOME EVENTS AND THEIR EVIDENCES

· The Mysterious Cobra Hood Cave

In Sigiriya, SriLanka there is a cave that has been tested by archaeologists to be a hundred percent natural. The mysterious part about this cave is that its shape, despite being untouched by human hands, has taken the shape of a cobra! Moreover, this cave still has cave paintings on its walls, depicting scenes of Sita being captured by the Asuras.

· The exile location

Let’s rewind the story a bit and get to the point where Rama was sentenced to exile by his own father, Dasharath on account of a promise that he made to his wife Kaikeyi. Being the obedient son that he was, Rama along with his beautiful wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana proceeded to the forest; and the place where they built their cottage and lived for the next 14 years is stated to be ‘Panchavati‘. There exists a place called Panchavati, near Nasik. It’s often claimed be their abode once they were exiled from the royal palace. Today this place has a lot of temples and is often visited by people.

· Jatayu’s rescue attempt

When Sita was abducted by Ravana, there was a demi-god called Jatayu who came to Sita’s rescue. However, Ravana slayed the demi god’s wings and he fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Rama and Lakshmana found the now-dying demi-God who was lying on the ground. It was Jatayu who told Rama that it was Ravana who had abducted Sita and it was Lanka where Rama would find his beautiful wife. But alas, Jatayu could not be saved, as he was now breathing his last. In order to thank Jatayu for his brave efforts and for imparting the precious bit of information about Sita’s abduction - Rama, with his divine powers uttered the words ‘LePakshi’ which in telugu means - ‘Rise, Bird’. The fact here is that there is an actual place in Andhra Pradesh called ‘Lepakshi’, which is reportedly the place where the Jatayu fell. Jatayu, being a crucial part of saving Sita is highly revered in the Ramayana.

· Sita’s life in SriLanka

When Ravana abducted Sita and got her to his kingdom of Lanka, he is said to have first taken her to a place which is now a tourist spot in Sr Lanka called Sita Kotuwa. According to the mythological tale, from here Ravana took her to Ashok Vatika which is an actual ‘Ashokvanam’ in SriLanka.

· The footprints of Lord Hanuman

Going by the mythological tale of The Ramayana, when Rama deployed the monkey forces to rescue his wife, Sita. He chose the strongest among them who was named Hanuman to find Sita’s exact location. Upon receiving blessings from Rama, the monkey God flew to Lanka to find the exact location of Sita. Full with power and divine blessing, Hanuman was endowed with a special ability to alter his form - i.e.; he could maximize his size to that of a giant or even minimize his form to that of an average monkey! To support this- till date, there are footprints that have been said to be of Hanuman near Ashokvanam.

· Dark soil:

A part of the Ramayana narrates that after Ravana found out that Hanuman had come to free Sita, he set Hanuman’s tail on fire after attempting to keep him captive. In the process, Hanuman set Ravana’s kingdom on fire by jumping over distances and places which were a part of Ravana’s kingdom. Even today, in some parts where Ravana’s palace once reportedly stood, the soil is somewhat darker than that of the surrounding area.

· Hot wells

These were said to be built by Ravana, the hot springs are well-like structures which still exist and form an integral part of being SriLanka’s supply of naturally hot water.

· 10 headed Ravana

Whenever Ravana has to be depicted either in texts or sculptures, he is shown to be having 10 heads. While the statement that Ravana has 10 heads might seem highly impossible, the fact that he ruled 10 kingdoms doesn’t seem farfetched. 10 kingdoms, 10 crowns. Simple. Another theory states that Ravana was a great scholar and his ten heads symbolize his mastery over 6 shastras and 4 vedas. One of the theories state that the ten heads of Ravana depict the 10 negative senses or emotions in a human being, namely- lust, anger, delusion, greed, pride, envy, the mind, intellect, will and ego.

· Rama Setu

In those days, there was a huge problem in the form of the water bodies that we now call as the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar. In order to get to Ravana’s kingdom, Rama had to cross these water bodies. So, he ordered his supreme army of monkeys to build a bridge between the two lands, and with his divine power the stones floated on the water. With the help of Google maps and complex technology, if you carefully watch the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, one can actually see a link between the two countries! This link has often been dubbed as the Rama Setu or Rama’s bridge and even sometimes as the Adam’s bridge.

· The journey from SriLanka to Ayodhya

Vijaya Dashami is the day Ravana was defeated by Rama in an epic battle between the demons and the army of monkeys. Sita was rescued and Rama along with his trusted comrades took his wife back to his kingdom, Ayodhya. 21 days later, he returned to Ayodhya, and his return is why Diwali is celebrated with lights as it first was done by the natives of Ayodhya, to celebrate the defeat of darkness by light! Even in today’s day - The journey from these two lands takes a total of 21 days by foot, according to the much-trusted Google Maps - which is pretty much the number of days from Vijaya Dashami to Diwali.

INFLUENCES

Variety of Beliefs in Different Parts of India

Rama's story has had a major socio-cultural and inspirational influence across South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Rama Navami is a spring festival that celebrates the birthday of Rama. The festival is a part of the spring Navratri, and falls on the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra month in the traditional Hindu calendar. This typically occurs in the Gregorian months of March or April every year.

The important celebrations on this day take place at Ayodhya, Sitamarhi, Janakpurdham (Nepal), Bhadrachalam, Kodandarama Temple, Vontimitta and Ramaeswarama. Rathayatras, the chariot processions, also known as Shobha yatras of Rama, Sita, his brother Lakshmana and Hanuman, are taken out at several places.

Rama's life is remembered and celebrated every year with plays and fireworks in autumn. This is called Rama Lila, and the play follows Ramayana or more commonly the Ramacharitmanas. It is observed through thousands of Rama-related performance arts and dance events, that are staged during the festival of Navratri in India. After the enactment of the legendary war between Good and Evil, the Ramlila celebrations climax in the Dussehra (Dasara, Vijayadashami) night festivities where the giant grotesque effigies of Evil such as of demon Ravana are burnt, typically with fireworks.

Variety of Stories

These are the stories that have been told to us for all our childhood and would be passed on to the future generations.

i. In Upendra Bhanja’s Baidehisa Bilasa and Ananga Narendra’s Ramalila, a rooster tells Rama to stop crying. When he learns who Rama is, he assures Rama that his wife did not abandon him as she was tired of forest life. The demon-king Ravana abducted her and carried her off on his flying chariot, and she had yelled out his name as she was taken away in the southern direction. Pleased with this information, Rama offers the rooster a golden crown. The rooster says men who are hungry for his meat already chase him; he does not want to be chased by men greedy for gold. So he asks Rama for a skin crown instead which he gets. That is why roosters have crowns!

ii. In another Odia story, a crane says it turned white after Sita’s tears fell on its feathers from Ravana’s chariot that flew above. Rama blesses the male crane that during the four months of the rainy season the female crane will feed it; he will have to do no work. The male crane feels everyone will make fun of him for eating his wife’s leftovers but Rama assures him that just as Sita is equal to Rama so is every wife equal to her husband and so eating her leftovers is nothing to be ashamed of. A very modern take in a traditional narrative.

iii. Ravana used to get the woman of his desire and he could go to any length to do so. Kuber’s son cursed him when he tried to mistreat Rambha that his head would burst into three parts the next time he touched a woman without her consent. This was the reason why Ravana could not force Sita Devi to marry him.

iv. Lakshmana requested Goddess of sleep (Nindra) to go to his wife Urmila. As he would not sleep for 14 years. He will stay awake day-night and watch for dangers in forest while his elder brother and sister-in-law sleeps in peace. Urmila in return accepts her husband’s dedication towards his elder brother and agrees to sleep for 14 years. In night she would sleep for her and in day she would sleep on-behalf of her husband.

According to the Ramacharitmanas, Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu immersed himself in the Sarayu River to return to his eternal Mahavishnu form, after he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also joined him, as did many devout followers.

References

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Cartwright, M. (2015). Rama. Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Chopra, R. (2014). Ramayan, Mahabharat historical sources, West dubs them myth. Economic Times. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/ramayan-mahabharat-historical-sources-west-dubs-them-myth-y-sudershan-rao/articleshow/45171587.cms?from=mdr

Facts, H. (n.d.). Facts about Hindu Religion. Retrieved from http://www.hinduismfacts.org/dashavatar/lord-rama/

Pattnaik, D. (n.d.). Stories About Rama. Retrieved from https://devdutt.com/article-category/indian-mythology/ramayana/

Rama. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia.com: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramaa

Rama in Jainism. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_in_Jainism

Sethi, A. (2007). For historians, Ram remains a myth. Times of India .

Shrivastav, S. (2003). The ASI Report.

The Times of India. (n.d.). Lord Rama was born in 5114 BC.

Versions of Ramayana. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://devdutt.com/article-category/indian-mythology/ramayana/