Whose Ramayana Is It Anyway?

whose

ramayana is it anyway?

Natasha Sarkar

ramayana is it anyway? whose

If there is one grand tale that has impacted Asia, it has to be the Ramayana, the great Indian epic. In this sumptuously illustrated volume, the author highlights the various South and Southeast Asian traditions and variations of the tale with nearly a hundred superb watercolour paintings.

That this ancient narrative has adapted itself to multiple art forms is not surprising, given the diversity of its retellings in both literary and non-literary forms—oral narratives, dance-dramas, plays, and more. From India, the Rama tale is presumed to have travelled along three routes: by land, the northern route took the story from Punjab and Kashmir into China, Tibet, and East Turkestan; by sea, the southern route carried the story from Gujarat and South India into Java, Sumatra, and Malaya; and again by land, the eastern route delivered the story from Bengal into Burma, Thailand, Laos, and to some extent, Cambodia and Vietnam. In Indonesia and Malaysia, the epic has been incorporated into the Islamic tradition; Theravada Buddhism in Thailand and Cambodia adopted Hindu divinities from the Rama story into its fold.

With 90 stunning original art, this volume celebrates this all-inclusive tradition of the epic, foregrounding it as a cultural phenomenon across time and space.

whose

ramayana is it anyway?

ramayana is it anyway? whose

Natasha Sarkar

First published in India in 2024 by Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd

706 Kaivanna, Panchvati, Ellisbridge Ahmedabad 380006 INDIA

T: +91 79 40 228 228

E: mapin@mapinpub.com www.mapinpub.com

Text and Illustrations © Natasha Sarkar

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

The moral rights of Natasha Sarkar as author of this work are asserted.

ISBN: 978-93-85360-54-1

Copyediting: Ankona Das and Mithila Rangarajan / Mapin Editorial

Proofreading: Neha Manke / Mapin Editorial

Design: Darshit Mori and Gopal Limbad / Mapin Design Studio

Production: Mapin Design Studio

Printed at Thomson Press (India) Ltd.

This book is dedicated to A.K. Ramanujan, acclaimed Indian poet and scholar of Indian literature and linguistics, for his scholarly essay

“Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” that triggered my interest in locating academic research on the numerous variations of the Ramayana— findings that simply had to be translated to paintings, which would connect with a wider audience, open to different ways of seeing.

Introduction

The Grand Legend Mesmerizing Asia For Aeons!

TheRamayana is perhaps India’s greatest export to the world. The story of Rama had, of course, been circulating for centuries in the oral form until Valmiki fashioned his offering in Sanskrit towards the end of the first millennium BCE. The next in a series of popular variants was Kamban’s Iramavataram in Tamil, composed in the 12th century CE, Krittibas’s Ramayana in Bengali in the 15th century, followed by Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi in the 16th century— all of which managed to completely captivate the Indian subcontinent. Regional retellings soon led to the development of a powerful tradition of the Rama tale that scaled mountains and crossed oceans, manifesting itself in a great many languages—Annamese, Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Javanese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khotanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Marathi, Odia, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Santali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai and even Tibetan. From South Asia, the Ramayana is believed to have made the journey to the rest of Asia via three routes. The northern route, via land, is said to have carried the tale from Punjab and Kashmir into China, Tibet and East Turkestan; the southern route, by sea, from Gujarat and South India into Java, Sumatra, and Malaya; the eastern route, again via land, from Bengal into Burma, Thailand and Laos; Vietnam and Cambodia obtaining their variants partly from Java and India via the eastern route.

The Indonesian and Malaysian experience of the legend was all about the adaptation of the tale into an Islamic tradition. Thailand, Laos and Cambodia introduced Hindu divinities from the story into the Theravada Buddhist tradition, while in Nepal, the Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions embraced the epic wholeheartedly. A multitude of pan-Asian regional variants, even if not translations of Valmiki’s

narrative, did rely on it for the basic storyline. Often, religiously neutral elements that had universal appeal were retained, while patterns of heroism, justice and human relations encountered departures from the usual course of action. Manipulation of character, theme and even the choice of episodes were evident in such adaptations. While the romantic love between Rama and Sita formed the central plot for Malay adaptations, the idealization of Rama as a model ruler nurtured the desire of the Thais and Cambodians to see him in their monarch. Primarily, Southeast Asian values found inspiration in themes such as a husband’s love for his wife, her chastity, and the ideal of truth. The Far East drew inspiration from the tale in its legendary Chinese monkey king Sun Wukong and his Japanese counterpart Son Goku.

In the subcontinent, alongside narratives of devotion were those interpretations which attempted to substitute the doings of the gods with those of ordinary men and women. Particularly folk artistes, being rooted to the realities of everyday life, were less likely to portray Rama as anything more than human, questioning rather his virtue and victory ever so often. Jain variants went a step further, fixing what they believed to be a gross error—a Hindu Brahmin conspiracy of sorts to malign Ravana and turn him into a villain. If Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Meghanadbadh Kabya all but humanized Ravana, transforming his son Meghnad into a Greek hero along the lines of Hector, the Dalit and tribal communities followed suit with the glorification of Ravana, shifting the focus from the powerful to the powerless. In a far-out move to politicize the epic, Periyar E.V. Ramasami actually imagined Ravana to be an embodiment of South Indian virtue, while Molla, Chandrabati and others—through their interpretations of the tale from a woman’s standpoint—lent a feminine sensibility to the epic.

The ancient narrative adapted itself to multiple art forms across Asia. Numerous dance dramas, plays, masked plays, and shadow and puppet plays had found expression in compositions—classical, folk and contemporary. Dance dramas presented inspiring portrayals, be it the ‘Khon’ in Thailand and Cambodia, Indonesia’s ‘Wayang Wong’ or India’s ‘Ankianat’, ‘Chhau’, and ‘Kathakali’, among a dozen others. As a matter of fact, in shadow and puppet theatre, in its most sophisticated forms—the ‘Nang Yai’ of Thailand and the ‘Wayang Kulit’ of Indonesia, one could experience profound levels of articulation and abstraction that not every art form was capable of achieving. Had it not been for its openness to multiple readings and interpretations, the Ramayana might never have thrived as a great living tradition. The Ramayana is indeed devoid of simplistic conclusions for it provides ample scope for re-imagining, unlearning and re-questioning. The book in your hands is merely an endeavour to encompass the spirit of the epic as a cultural phenomenon across time and space via ninety watercolour paintings. This timeless tale couldn’t possibly belong to a single moment in time for it has reflected the ideological aspirations of myriad voices that have appropriated it, and it is in such diversity that cultures have flourished. Quite rightly, then, Whose Ramayana Is It Anyway?

The Rama Story

A Popular Version

In the city of Ayodhya, King Dasharatha is devoid of a male heir. Upon the advice of his ministers, a special sacrifice results in causing his three wives to conceive sons. The firstborn is Rama, son of Queen Kaushalya, followed by his three half-brothers, Bharata, son of Queen Kaikeyi, and Lakshmana and Shatrughana, twin sons of Queen Sumitra. Rama grows up to be a formidable warrior and subsequently wins his bride, Sita, by stringing a massive bow. Meanwhile, in Lanka, the demon King Ravana gains invincibility from the gods. He cannot be vanquished by any demonic or divine creature; his vulnerability is confined to only humans.

Rama, loved by the citizens of Ayodhya for his compassion and wisdom, is chosen by Dasharatha as his successor. Kaikeyi, Dasharatha’s youngest queen, in a fit of jealousy, asks the king to redeem the two boons that he had awarded her when she had once saved his life on the battlefield. She asks for Rama to be banished to the forest for fourteen years and for her son Bharata to be crowned in his place. Rama vows to honour his father’s wishes and willingly leaves for the forest, accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana. Upon hearing of the events that have transpired, Bharata leaves for the forest to persuade Rama to return. Rama, true to fulfilling his vow, refuses to return, whereupon Bharata returns to Ayodhya, only to place Rama’s sandals on the royal throne. He agrees to serve as regent until Rama’s return from exile.

In the forest, the three—Rama, Lakshmana and Sita—settle down in a hermitage. One day a demoness, Surpanakha, falls in love with Rama and offers herself to him in marriage. Rama refuses her offer, and Surpanakha deems Sita the obstacle to her plan. As Surpanakha prepares to eat Sita, Lakshmana mutilates her. Surpanakha flees to her brother Ravana, complains of the cruelty of the two princes and speaks of Sita’s beauty, which arouses a passionate desire for Sita in Ravana. He secures the aid of another demon that takes the form of an attractive golden deer, luring

first Rama and then Lakshmana away from the hermitage. Ravana in the guise of a holy man, then, gains entrance to the hermitage and carries Sita away to his kingdom of Lanka.

In his attempt to procure allies to find Sita, Rama gets involved in the politics of a monkey kingdom. There Rama meets Hanuman who becomes his greatest devotee, and Sugriva, an exiled prince, who has lost his wife and kingdom. Rama agrees to help Sugriva win back his wife and kingdom from his brother Vali if Sugriva helps him look for Sita. In the fight between Vali and Sugriva, Rama hides behind a tree and shoots Vali.

Later, Sugriva learns of Sita’s imprisonment in Lanka. Hanuman crosses the ocean to Lanka and locates Sita in a grove near Ravana’s palace. He gives her Rama’s signet ring, assuring her of imminent rescue. He then allows himself to be brought to Ravana’s court where his tail is set afire. Escaping, he sets the city on fire and returns to help Rama prepare for war. Vibhishana, a brother of Ravana, joins forces with Rama. The monkeys build a bridge to Lanka so as to help the army cross over. In a war that sees great losses on both sides, Rama ultimately triumphs, killing Ravana and making Vibhishana the new ruler of Lanka. At first refusing to take Sita back since she’d now lived in the household of another man, Rama eventually accepts her by his side only after she undergoes a trial by fire.

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana return to Ayodhya, and Rama is coronated the king. However, continuing rumours among the people questioning Sita’s chastity cause Rama to banish her to the forest. Sita, who is now pregnant, finds refuge in the hermitage of sage Valmiki. Here, she gives birth to twin sons—Lava and Kusa. Eventually, Sita returns to the earth from where she came, while Rama is reunited with his sons. Though shattered by the loss of his wife, Rama goes on to rule Ayodhya and fulfil his duties towards the people. At an appointed time several years later, Rama ascends back to heaven.

Key Characters

(In Alphabetical Order)

ANGAD

Son of Vali—the ruler of Kishkindha. He was sent as convoy to Ravana’s assembly before the war.

BRAHMA

Along with Vishnu and Shiva, he is part of the Hindu trinity that overlooks the universe. Brahma is the creator; Vishnu—the preserver; and Shiva—the destroyer.

DASHARATHA

Emperor of the Koshala kingdom with Ayodhya as its capital.

GARUDA

Eagle; king of winged creatures.

HANUMAN

Son of the god of wind; Sugriva’s ally. His devotion to Rama is unparalleled; possesses immeasurable strength, energy, and wisdom.

JAMBUVAN

One of the wise elders of Hanuman’s search party, in the form of a bear.

JANAKA

King of Videha, with Mithila as its capital. Sita is his foster-daughter.

JATAYU

A great vulture that pledged to guard the lives of Dasharatha’s children.

KUMBHAKARNA

A rakshasa and Ravana’s brother, known for his monstrous size and great appetite.

LAKSHMANA

Rama’s younger brother by Dasharatha’s third wife, Sumitra.

MANDODARI

Ravana’s wife.

MAREECHA

A rakshasa, also called Marichi or Mirangi, who assumed the form of a golden deer, thereby aiding in the abduction of Sita.

MEGHNAD

Ravana’s son; also known as Indrajit.

RAMA

Dasharatha’s first-born son and upholder of dharma (correct conduct and duty); regarded as an incarnation of the god Vishnu.

RAVANA

Ten-headed king of Lanka who abducts Sita; brother of Vibhishana and Surpanakha; father of Meghnad/Indrajit; husband of Mandodari.

SAMPATI

Jatayu’s elder brother.

SHIVA

One of the trinity of Hindu deities. Shiva is the destroyer.

SITA

Janaka’s foster-daughter, also called Janaki, heroine of the epic.

SUGRIVA

Vali’s brother, he later becomes the ruler of Kishkindha after engineering Vali’s death with Rama’s help.

SURPANAKHA

A rakshasi, sister to Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana, Khara and Dushana.

URMILA

Lakshmana’s wife.

VALI

Ruler of Kishkindha—peopled by a giant monkey race. He is later slain by his brother Sugriva with Rama’s help.

VIBHISHANA

Ravana’s brother who pledges his loyalty to Rama.

VISHNU

The supreme god; part of the Hindu trinity governing the universe, Vishnu is the preserver. Rama is considered to be his seventh incarnation.

The Ideal Hero…

…is Rama, typically rendered in shades of green and/or blue. He is skilfully crafted by the Chitra Karigar community of Raghurajpur in Puri district to play the central character in Odisha’s Baliyatra—a festival that literally means ‘Voyage to Bali’—bringing forth memories of the glorious maritime tradition of trans-oceanic voyages undertaken by the natives of Odisha to Southeast Asia (fig. 1). As one moves to the southern state of Kerala, one encounters the noble hero in one of the world’s oldest theatre forms —the Kathakali—where he dons an ornately decorated headdress, an elaborate mask-like facial make-up. His eyes are accentuated with thick black lines, while a facial border— chutti—made of paper and rice paste, enlarges the face, magnifying the aura of the hero. The ceremonial lamp—kalivilakku—at the centre of the stage adds that magical touch to every performance (fig. 2).

The Nepalese have great affection for their Hindu hero. In a country where stupas and chaityas are worshipped mainly by Buddhists, Hindus also

fig. 1 Ramo (Puri–Odisha, India)

fig. 2 Abhinaya (Kerala, India)

fig. 3 Mero Rama (Nepal)

revere these structures as the embodiment of the Buddha. Given the spirit of tolerance that permeates the lives of the Nepalese, it is not surprising when one chances upon the hero and his heroine on stamps issued by the government to commemorate Ramnavami (fig. 3). Virtually, all Buddhist tellings, in fact, identify the hero as a Bodhisattva—a future Buddha. This notion is significant to an understanding of his place in Southeast Asian society, a region mostly steeped in Theravada Buddhism which observes two versions of the Rama story—the Dasaratha Jataka of the pre-Christian era and the Phra Lak/Phra Lam of medieval times. There is no personification of the enemy in the Dasaratha Jataka, the victory being spiritual, while in the Phra Lak/Phra Lam, Ravana is the embodiment of desire and death whom Buddha defeats repeatedly in the course of his life as Gautama. In West Bengal, India, the folk community of Malda district prepare their ideal hero of baked clay with a bun atop his head for the Gambhira masked dance performed annually during the Gajan festival (fig. 4).

The epic was well known in Java by the end of the 9th century, the region’s literary version—the Ramayana Kakawin—dating from a century later (fig. 5). The Thais were probably introduced to the story in the 13th century, their variant being the Ramakien adopted from older Khmer sources—and hence similar to the Cambodian Reamker. In the Ramakien, all names, places, traditions, flora and fauna are adapted to the Thai context, making the Rama story an epic of national character (fig. 6).

fig. 4 Rama-Bodhisattva (Malda–West Bengal, India; Southeast Asia)

fig. 5 The Once and Future King (Java, Indonesia)

To the Thais, Cambodians and even the Javanese, Rama may undoubtedly possess heroic qualities, but he is no god. Often pictured as a romantic hero, he exiles his wife in a fit of jealousy for she paints a portrait of the villain. In any case, most versions of the tale imagine him to be the embodiment of all that is good and noble. Thai kings have carried his name with elan. King Ramathibodhi I named his capital city ‘Ayutthya’ after the hero’s own capital in an attempt to validate his rule. His reign has been referred to as Rama rajya and all modern Thai kings continued to assume the name of the ideal hero. Although, with the passing of Thai history’s longest reigning monarch—Bhumibol Adulyadej—in October 2016, one wonders if the country will ever witness such a unifying figure again; someone who is revered as the personification of Thai nationhood—“the People’s King” (fig. 7).

fig. 6 Phra Ram (Thailand)

fig. 7 Rama IX (Thailand)

Soaring High…

…is the mighty vulture Jatayu, believed to be the vahana of Lord Vishnu. A young Jatayu and his brother—Sampati would often compete to figure who could fly higher. On one such occasion, Jatayu flew so high that he was nearly seared by the sun’s flames. In India, Jatayu’s head, with a long beak and beady eyes, is crafted all of fine wood by the Polia Deshi community of North Dinajpur in West Bengal for the Gambhira masked dance (fig. 8). Later in the epic, when the villain abducts the heroine sweeping her off in his aerial chariot, Jatayu is the only witness to this incident. He makes a valiant attempt to rescue her but, is mortally wounded. For their Ankiya Bhaona theatre tradition, the Assamese make exquisite Jatayu masks (fig. 9). In the 14th-century Adhyatma Ramayana, events and characters are viewed as divine allegory. In this version, the hero is an incarnation of Vishnu, and the heroine—that of

fig. 8 Jatayu: Flight (North Dinajpur–West Bengal, India)

fig. 9 Sita Haran: The Eyewitness (Sivasagar–Assam, India; Thailand)

Lakshmi (fig. 12). Here only a maya or illusion of the heroine is abducted and not the real heroine (fig. 14), leaving perhaps an imagined role for the vulture to play in the spiritual and transcendental scheme of things.

Garuda is the other legendary bird-like creature resembling an eagle. In the popular imagination of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, this brave eagle is all of green, and exquisite masks of the bird are made of split bamboo, cloth and clay by the Sibsagar folk community for the Ankiya Bhaona masked dance (fig. 10). In Thailand, since the Thai kings were considered to be incarnations of Vishnu, and the mythical bird is the God’s chosen vehicle, this bird deity came to symbolize the power and authority of the king. In time, the God-bird, in red (fig. 10), became the national emblem of Thailand, used as a symbol of royalty for centuries,

fig. 10 Phra Khrut Pha—Garuda (Sivasagar–Assam, India; Thailand)

fig. 11 Birds of a Feather (Indonesia; Thailand)

whose

fig. 13 Seducing Sita (Santhal tribal tradition, India)

fig. 14 Maya: The Grand Illusion (Classical Indian tradition)

fig. 15 Search Party (Koraput–Odisha, India)

fig. 12 Sita–Lakshmi (Classical Indian tradition; Midnapore–West Bengal, India)

and continues to be rendered on seals to authenticate Thai government documents. For the Indonesians, the bird is not only the national emblem—Garuda Pancasila, but also enjoys a distinct place as the country’s national airline—Garuda Indonesia (fig. 11).

Sweet Kadambara, have you seen my fair one? Speak, Basil, you must know, for her limbs are like your graceful branches… Sweet Tila, fairest of all, where is she who loved your flowers? … Have pity. Speak to me … Where are her soft limbs, her moon bright face, her shapely neck, her red lips…”1

Elsewhere…

“Look brother, the Kakila birds mock me with their joyful notes and the yellow clusters of the cassias awake my longing for Sita … From tree to tree each bird seeks his mate, filling the air with their triumph and the call of the Spring is unbearable. My eyes are tortured for the sight of Sita.”2

1. “The Ramayana and the Mahabharata: Two Epics of Asia,” The UNESCO Courier, (Dec. 1967): p. 14.

2. Ibid., p. 15.

ART

Whose Ramayana is it anyway?

Natasha Sarkar

144 pages, 90 illustrations

8 x 10.25” (203 x 260 mm), sc with gate fold

ISBN: 978-93-85360-54-1

₹1500 | $25 | £20 Fall 2023 • World rights

Natasha Sarkar is a commissioning editor, artist, and an independent researcher, having earned her PhD in History from the National University of Singapore. A recipient of The People’s Choice Award at Brisbane Art Prize 2017 and a finalist for The Social Art Award 2017 instituted by the Institute for Art and Innovation e.V., Berlin, her works have been exhibited at events both nationally and internationally. Sarkar had a solo show, ‘Ram Katha Unlimited’, at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, in December 2016.

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