With the renewed interest in the birthplace of Rama, a thread on Ramayana. Most of these are excerpts from the essay of the famous Kannada scholar, AK Ramanujam. Read on to understand the plurality of Ramayana (1/n)

To debunk a popular myth, there is no single Ramayana story. Camille Bulcke, a student of Ramayana, counted 300 versions of Ramayana in prose, poem & folk forms. Sanskrit alone contains 25 or more tellings of Ramayana in kavya(poems), purana(mythology) & other formats (2/n)

Origin & spread of Ramayana can be best explained by these 3 factors:
1. Trade & travel
2. Culture
3. Religion
(3/n)

How trade & travel influenced the origin & spread of Ramayana?
A Prince kidnapped a Queen that leads to war that involves a siege/attack from sea. If you travel back to Europe in circa 700 BC & ask about this story, everyone will recognize it as Iliad (4/n)

Prince Paris' kidnapping of Queen Helen of Sparta & Trojan war is the setting of one of the greatest works of European literature and due to the trade links with India at that time, arguably & plausibly the story travelled to India in various forms (5/n)

Valmiki was estimated to have completed the whole Ramayana somewhere around 500-100 BC. This has some influences from Iliad. Most people accept the Valmiki's version was the earliest & most prestigious of all versions (6/n)

The other versions that were very famous & influenced other retellings were Kambar's Ramavataram (Tamil), Krittibas's Krittivasi Ramayan (Bengali), Kannada folk versions, Tulsidas' Ramcharitamanas(Awadhi/Hindi) to name a few (7/n)

According to Santosh Desai, Ramayana travelled in 3 major routes:
1. Northern land route from Punjab-Kashmir to China,Tibet
2. Eastern land route from Bengal to Burma, Thailand
3. Southern sea route from South India to Java, Sumatra, Malaya, Vietnam, Cambodia,etc (8/n)

Thai Ramakien owes much to the Tamil & Telugu works as even many characters' names are in Tamil & not Sanksrit like Kalaikottu. Malaysian Hikayat Seri Ram & even Tulsidas' Hindi version owes too many details to Kambar's rich poetic depictions (9/n)

The rich mercantile trade of Tamil merchant guilds helped to take the story to East Asian regions & popularized it there. By this time in 18th century, there are 200 odd versions of Ramayana that is already in place with large variations in details (10/n)

Syam Narayan Pande's "Ancient History of Geography" claimed that Ram was born in Herat, Afghanistan.
Thai Ramakien claims Ayodhya is in Thailand. Wherever the story went, people made their own versions of Ramayana greatly improving upon the earlier versions (11/n)

Now coming back to the second factor - culture. In Valmiki's version, Lord Indra seduces a willing Ahalya(as simple as that). In Kambar's version, Ahalya realizes that she is doing a wrong but cannot let go of the forbidden joy. (12/n)

It also details the spirit nature of Ahalya's sage husband adding a psychological subtlety to seduction. Finally Indra is cursed with 1000 vaginas & Ahalya is turned into a stone (which Lord Ram later cures by touching the stone)
(13/n)

These poetic justices & motifs are added by Kambar based on South Indian folklore. Kambar is also more dramatic & adds many rich details than Valmiki. Ahalya's revival story adds a touch of bhakti (devotion) layer to Valmiki's version (14/n)

This bhakti layers are due to the Bhakti movement in Indian culture that transformed religions, dieties, culture & kingdoms in India. It originated in Tamil Nadu during 6th-8th century & spread to the whole of India in the next few centuries (15/n)

In Valmiki's version, Rama is clearly a man (or God-man) & not a God who has to operate within human limits. Many even argue that Rama's divinity & incarnation of Vishnu angles were later additions to Valmiki (16/n)

In Kambar's version, Rama is clearly a God who evokes Bhakti from readers. Kambar was under the influence of Nammalvar, the eminent Vaishnavite saint & adds bhakti/thelogical cultural layers to Ramayana. Ahalya's revival is an example to many layers of Bhakti culture (17/n)

Coming back to the last factor - religion. Ramayana is written by other religions incorporating their religious beliefs into the story. In Jain Ramayana versions, Jains have removed the rakshasha depictions of Ravana & avoid all gory/miraculous details (18/n)

Jains tried to put their own rationalism into Ramayana. They have admiration & pity for Ravana's character arc. Here, Lakshmana only kills Ravana (differs from all Hindu versions) due to backstory. Monkeys are actually celestials, Ram becomes a Jain monk & Sita a Jain nun (19/n)

In Buddhist version, Rama is the previous incarnation of Buddha & Dasaratha is the king of Benaras (not Ayodhya). This version has no Sita abduction story & no war with Ram - Raavan. In Guru Granth Sahib, Ramayan is spiritual- Ram is soul, Sita is intellect, Ravana is ego (20/n)

Kannada folklore & the later Kannada version "Ananda Ramayana" written in 17th century under Mysore kings, depicts Sita as daughter of Ravana. Ravana abducted Sita because she is his daughter & he is depicted as a good person. (21/n)

Another Jain version mixes this story along with the love backdrop & presents an oedipal angle to the story where Ravana abducts Sita out of love without knowing that she is his daughter (22/n)

All South East Asian versions of Ramayana have different characterizations. In Thailand, Rama (incarnation of Vishnu) is a subordinate to Lord Shiva. War sections are more elaborate in Thai version as Thai kingdoms were engulfed in many wars during these retellings (23/n)

In Thailand, focus is on neither family values nor spirituality. Characters are not depicted as celibate or devout as in Kambar's versions. Hanuman is a ladies man here, he peeks into bedrooms of Lanka to look at women. Ravana is also depicted kindly here (24/n)

Coming to an end, the various depictions that I mentioned wont even cover 10% of the plurality of Ramayana versions. Ramayana is influenced by trade, travel, political, cultural & religious factors. Ramayana is not a homogeneous single story like Abrahamic religions (25/n)

In 1987 when Ramayana in Doordarshan was beamed to all Indian homes, it pushed a single story narrative about Ramayana to everyone. Not questioning the intent but we need more pluralistic depictions of Ramayana (26/n)

But who is against such pluralistic depictions of Ramayana. The culprit is RSS, BJP & so-called Hindu organizations. They weaponized "Jai Shree Ram" as a war cry. They made Delhi University to remove AK Ramanujam's essay from its syllabus. (27/n)

Its because his essay contradicted Hindu nationalist narrative that Valmiki's version is the only true Ramayana version. All other versions like Assamese,Bengali,Gujarati,Kannada,Kashmiri,Marathi,Oriya,Sinhalese,Tamil,Telugu ones scares them (28/n)

Say Yes to pluralism. Read more & widen ur perspectives. Appreciate the plural nature of Indian mythologies & cultures. Understand the metamorphosis of Rama & other characters by various authors,tales & cultures. Dont fall into the narrow trap pushed by the Hindutva brigade (End)