The Other Ramayanas

Pluralistic renditions offer a different narrative of the epic

- Azeez Tharuvana

A K Ramanujan, in his essay, Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation, cites a folk narrative. This story revolves around Hanuman’s quest to find the lost gem ring of Lord Rama in the netherworld. Hanuman encounters the chieftain of the demi-world and the king of the ghostly beings who presents him numerous rings in a vessel, claiming all those rings belonged to Lord Rama. The king of the ghostly beings explains to the bewildered Hanuman: “This vessel contains variegated rings that appertained to various incarnations of Rama. As soon as one avatar accomplishes its objective and expires, that ring is being dropped down. I collected all the rings and kept them intact.” Then the king asks Hanuman to identify the ring which he reckoned as his Lord’s. The king also informs Hanuman that his Lord Rama had designated Lava and Kusha to be the heirs and immersed himself in the river Sarayu.

There are umpteen social and cultural makeovers of Rama and Sita, similar to the multiple accumulations of rings mentioned in the above story. Texts and subtexts differ from author to author, akin to the oral traditions. All major characters, including both Rama and Sita, are portrayed as kaleidoscopic incarnations in various texts/oral narratives with revamped colours and characteristics. As a matter of fact, all such oral/verbal narratives are nothing but tiny tributaries destined to merge into the larger river called the literature of the Ramayana.

Chandrabati Ramayana