Versions of Ramayana

Versions of Ramayana

Depending on the methods of counting, as many as three hundred[1][2] versions of the Indian epic poem, the Ramayana, are known to exist. The oldest version is generally recognized to be the Sanskrit version attributed to the sage Valmiki.

The Ramayana has spread to many Asian countries outside of India, including Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, and China. The original Valmiki version has been adapted or translated into various regional languages, which have often been marked more or less by plot twists and thematic adaptations. Some of the important adaptations of the classic tale include the 12th century Tamil language Ramavataram, the Khmer Reamker, the Old Javanese Kakawin Ramayana, and the Thai Ramakien and the Laos Phra Lak Phra Lam.

The manifestation of the core themes of the original Ramayana is far broader even than can be understood from a consideration of the different languages in which it appears, as its essence has been expressed in a diverse array of regional cultures and artistic mediums. For instance, the Ramayana has been expressed or interpreted in Lkhaon Khmer dance theatre, in the Mappila Songs of the Muslims of Kerala and Lakshadweep,[3] in the Indian operatic tradition of Yakshagana, and in the epic paintings still extant on, for instance, the walls of Thailand's Wat Phra Kaew palace temple. In Indonesia, the tales of the Ramayana appear reflected in ballet performances, masked danced drama, and Wayang shadow puppetry.[4] Angkor Wat in Siem Reap also has mural scenes from the epic Battle of Lanka on one of its outer walls.

Contents

Sanskrit Versions

Below are a few of the most prominent Sanskrit versions of the Ramayana. Some primarily recount Valmiki’s narrative, while others focus more on peripheral stories and/or philosophical expositions:

  • Adhyatma Ramayana is extracted from the Brahmananda Purana, traditionally ascribed to Vyasa. It is thought to be the inspiration for Tulsidass’ Ramcharitmanas 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.
  • Vasistha Ramayana (more commonly known as Yoga Vasistha) is traditionally attributed to Valmiki. It is principally a dialogue between Vasistha and Rama in which Vasistha advances many of the principle tenets of Advaita Vedanta. It includes many anecdotes and illustrative stories, but does not recount Valmiki’s story of Rama in detail.
  • Laghu Yoga Vasishtha, by Abhinanda of Kashmir, is an abbreviated version of the Yoga Vasistha.[5]
  • Ananda Ramayana is traditionally attributed to Valmiki. While it briefly recounts the traditional story of Rama, it is composed primarily of stories peripheral, though related, to Valmiki’s narrative. These include Ravana’s abduction of Kausalya and Rama’s installment of the Shiva Lingam at Rameswaram.[6]
  • Agastya Ramayana is also traditionally attributed to Valmiki.[7]
  • Adbhuta Ramayana, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, includes related stories of Rama. It's emphasis is on the role of Sita, and includes an expanded story of the circumstances of her birth as well as an account of her defeat of Ravana's older brother, also known as Ravana but with 1000 heads.
  • The Ramayana story is also recounted within other Sanskrit texts, including: the Mahabharata (in the Ramokhyana Parva of the Vana Parva);[8] Bhagavata Purana contains a concise account of Rama’s story in its ninth skandha;[9] brief versions also appear in the Vishnu Purana as well as in the Agni Purana.
  • An eleventh century Sanskrit play entitled Mahanataka by Hanumat relates the story of Rama in nine, ten, or fourteen acts, depending on recension.[10]

Regional Versions

Some noteworthy examples of these additional renderings of the Ramayana tale include:

  • North India - The "Ramacharitamanasa" written by Tulsidas in the 16th century is the Ramayana version popular in North India.
  • Jammu and Kashmir - The Kashmiri "Ramavatara Charita" was written in 19th century.
  • Gujarat - The Tulsi-Krita Ramayana is a Gujarati adaptation of Tulisdas' Ramayana in 17th century by the poet Premanand Swami.
  • Maharashtra - The Marathi "Bhavartha Ramayana" written by Eknath in the 16th century. There is also reference of a Ramayana being translated into old Marathi during the 12th or 13th century.
  • Assam - The Assamese "Katha Ramayana" or "Kotha Ramayana" in 15th century by Madhava Kandali.
  • Bengal - The Bengali "Krittivasi Ramayan" written by poet Krittibas in 15th century.
  • Orissa - The Oriya Dandi Ramayana or Jagamohan Ramayana was adapted by Balaram Das in the 16th century.
  • Andhra Pradesh - The "Sri Ranganatha Ramayanamu" was adapted by Buddha Reddy and is the Telugu version of the Ramayana. The "Molla Ramayanamu" was adapted by poetess Molla.
  • Karnataka - The Kannada versions of the Ramayana – the "Kumudendu Ramayana" (a Jain version), written in 13th century and the "Kumara-Valmiki Torave Ramayana," written in the 16th century. There is another version titled "Ramachandra Charita Purana" written by Nagachandra during the 13th century.
  • Tamil Nadu - The Tamil "Kambaramayanam", a popular version, written by poet Kamban in the 12th century.
  • Kerala - The Malayalam language "Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilipattu" written by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century.
  • Nepal - The Nepali language "Bhanubhakta Ramayan" written by Bhanubhakta Acharya in the 19th century. The Nepal Bhasa "Siddhi Ramayan" written by Siddhidas Mahaju in the 20th century.
  • Goa:Ramayanu written by Krishnadasa Shama in 15th century in Kardalipura, Goa in Konkani,manuscripts found in Portugal.[11][12]
  • An Urdu language version is called the "Pothi Ramayana" and was written in 17th century.
  • Kannada - Two prose works by Nanadalike Lakshminarayana ('Muddanna') entitled Adbhuta Ramayana (1895) and Ramaswamedham (1898).[13]

Champu ramayan,Anand rayaman,Mantra ramayan,Girdhar ramayan,Shree ramayan mangeri,Shree rang nath ramayan, Bhaskar ramayan,Gobind ramayan written by guru gobind shingh ji,in samvat 1655 radhey shyam ramayan

Versions Outside India

The following are among the versions of the Ramayana that have emerged outside India:

Contemporary versions

Hanuman as depicted in Yakshagana, popular folk art of Karnataka

Contemporary prose versions of the epic Ramayana include Sri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr. K. V. Puttappa in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award. A prose version called Geet Ramayan in Marathi by G.D. Madgulkar was rendered in music by Sudhir Phadke and is considered to be a masterpiece of Marathi literature. The popular Indian author R. K. Narayan wrote a shortened prose interpretation of the epic, and another modern Indian author, Ashok Banker, has so far written a series of six English-language novels based on the Ramayana. In addition, Ramesh Menon wrote a single-volume edition of the Ramayana, which has received praise from scholars. A short version with a somewhat contemporary feel, influenced, according to the author, by contemporary representations of guerrilla warfare, appeared in Martin Buckley's Ramayana-based travelogue, An Indian Odyssey (Random House London, 2008). C Rajgopalachari, India's only Indian Governor General, also wrote a single volume Ramayana, published by Bhavans in 1957.

In September 2006, the first issue of Ramayan 3392 A.D. was published by Virgin Comics, featuring the Ramayana as re-envisioned by author Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

On screen

The Ramayana has been adapted on screen as well, most notably as the television series Ramayan by producer Ramanand Sagar, which is based primarily on the Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki's Ramayana and, at the time, was the most popular series in Indian television history. In the late 1990s, Sanjay Khan made a series called Jai Hanuman, recounting tales from the life of Hanuman and related characters from the Ramayana.

A Japanese animated film called Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama was released in the early 1990s. US animation artist Nina Paley retold the Ramayana from Sita's point of view (with a secondary story about Paley's own marriage) in the animated musical Sita Sings the Blues. An Indian animated film called Ramayana: The Epic was released in October 2010. The Stories Without Borders Production Company has a documentary in production about different versions of the Ramayana and a second India epic, the Mahabharata, across South and Southeast Asia that is slated to film begin filming in 2014.

Comic series

Artist Vikas Goel and writer Vijayendra Mohanty have created a ten-part comic series called Ravanayan that presents the story of Ramayana from Ravana's perspective.[15]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Camille Bulcke, Ramkatha: Utpatti aur Vikās (The Rāma story: Original and development), Prayāg: Hindī Pariṣad Prakāśan, 1950.
  2. ^ A. K. Ramanujan, "Three hundred Rāmāyaṇas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation", in Paula Richman (ed.), Many Rāmāyaṇas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1991, p. 48, note 3.
  3. ^ "A different song". The Hindu. 12 August, 2005. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2005/08/12/stories/2005081201210200.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
  4. ^ http://orias.berkeley.edu/SEARama/RamaIndonesia.htm
  5. ^ Leslie, Julia (2003). Authority and meaning in Indian religions: Hinduism and the case of Vālmīki. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. ISBN 0754634310.
  6. ^ Ananda Ramayana. Parimal Publications. 2006. 
  7. ^ Ananda Ramayana. Parimal Publications. 2006, introduction, p. viii.. 
  8. ^ Mahabharata. Parimal Publications. 2006. 
  9. ^ Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. Gita Press, Gorakhpur. ISBN 81-293-0155-5. 
  10. ^ Schuyler, Montgomery (1877). A bibliography of the Sanskrit drama: with an introductory sketch of the dramatic literature of India. Columbia University Press,the Macmillan Company, agents. 
  11. ^ Saradesāya, Manohararāya (2000). A history of Konkani literature: from 1500 to 1992. Sahitya Akademi,. pp. 317. ISBN 8172016646, 9788172016647. 
  12. ^ Bhembre, Uday (September 2009). Konkani bhashetalo paylo sahityakar:Krishnadas Shama. Sunaparant Goa. pp. 55–57. 
  13. ^ - Modern Kannada Literature "Modern Kannada Literature". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Kannada_literature#cite_note-padyam-8%7Cwork=Wikipedia - Modern Kannada Literature. 
  14. ^ de Jong, J.W. 1971. ‘Un fragment de l’histoire de Rāma en tibétain’ in Études tibétaines dédiées à la mémoire de Marcelle Lalou. Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient; de Jong, J.W. 1977. The Tun-huang Manuscripts of the Tibetan Ramayana Story’, Indo-Iranian Journal 19:37-88, 1977; Thomas, F.W. 1929. ‘A Rāmāyaṇa Story in Tibetan from Chinese Turkestan’ in Indian Studies in Honor of Charles Rockwell Lanman: 193–212. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
  15. ^ Banerjee, Manali (2011-07-09). "The Ramayana as Ravana saw it" (in English). Hindustan Times (New Delhi: HT Media). http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/719255.aspx. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 

Bibliography

Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia, ed. by Paula Richman. University of California Press, 1991.



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