Versions of Ramayana

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 or spiritual Ramayana is extracted from the Brahmananda Purana, traditionally ascribed to Vyasa. It is thought to be the inspiration for Tulsidas’ 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.[8]
• 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. This ramayana provide information about last years of Rama's life. These include Ravana's abduction of Sita and Rama's installment of the Shiva Lingam at Rameswaram.[9]
• Agastya Ramayana is also traditionally attributed to Agastya.
• Adbhuta Ramayana, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, includes related stories of Rama. Its 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, known as Mahiravana 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);[10] Bhagavata Purana contains a concise account of Rama's story in its ninth skandha;[11] 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.[12]
• A sixth-century manuscript, Dasa Griba Rakshash Charitram Vadha, contains five kandas: Balakanda and Uttarakanda are missing. This version portrays Rama as more of a human than god.[13]

• Pratima Natak of Bhasa which start with Rama's coronation which stop by kaikeyi and Rama exiled so Dasratha die. When Bharat came Ayodhya he saw statue of father with his ancestors and he knew that Dasratha was dead. In this play kaikeyi said that she want to exiled rama for fourteen days but by mistake fourteen years.[14]
• Abhiseka Nataka of Bhasa start with killing of Bali then Rama meet varuna for cross ocean. After killing Rawana, Rama take fire test of sita for her Chastity and finally end with coronation of Rama in Ayodhya.
• Yagna-falam of Bhasa which start with Dasratha enjoyment for Birth of his sons from yagna ; then viswamitra take him Rama and Lakshman for save his yagna from Demons. Viswamitra take them Mithila for yagna of janaka and Rama married sita.
• Kundamala of Dinnaga based on uttara-ramayana. Sita exiled by Rama and sita take vow she give kundamala or Garland to river for safe Birth of her son. Sita gave birth two twins. This twins sing ramayana in Rama's court and finally Rama meet his family.
• Mahaviracharita of Bhavabhuti based on Ramayana. This play start with Rama came in Hermitage of visvamitra and end with coronation of Rama.
• Uttara-rama-charita of Bhavabhuti based on later life Rama. Play start with sita blessed by sage astavkara then Rama show picture gallery with sita. Durmukha tell him rumours about sita's Chastity so sita exiled and she given Birth twins. Janaka and kaushlaya meet in Hermitage of valmiki. Twins fight with army of Rama who protect horse of Ashwamedha. Finally valmiki arranged drama and Rama know about his family.
• Janaka jananada of kalya Lakshmi Narsingh based on Ramayana of jaimini Ashwamedha. In this play Rama's sons lava and kusha fight with army of Rama who protect horse of Ashwamedha. only Three mss of this play survived. It is very rare play because only four play are based on uttara-ramayana.
• Chalita-Rama based on Rama's later life written in 9th century. In this play surpanakha planned plot and sita exiled But today we not found any mss of play.
• Ramabhyudaya of Yashovarman in six acts written during 7th century A.D.
• Ramabhyudaya of Ramadeva vyasa in two acts written during 15th century A.D.
• Swapana-Dasanana of Bhimata-based Dream of Rawana written around 6th or 7th century A.D.
• Maithili-kalyana of Hastimalla based on marriage of sita written around 9th century A.D.
• Uddata-Raghava by Mayu-raja also called Anagaharsha written around 8th century A.D.
• Ascharya-choodamani of Shaktibhadra written around 9th century based on Ramayana.
• Kritya-Rawana written during 9th century.
• Maya-puspaka written during 9th century.
• Rama-Charita drama based on Ramayana written during 9th century.
• Ramananada of shrigadita based on Ramayana written during 9th century.
• Anargha-Raghava of Murari written during 9th or 10th century.
• Bala-Ramyana of Raj-shekhara in ten acts written during 9th or 10th century.
• Abhinava-Raghava of kshiraswamin written during 10th century.
• Vali-Vadha written during 10th century. It is preksanka type drama.
• Marica-Vancitaka give ramayana story in five acts written during 11th century.
• Prasana-Raghava of Jayadeva is a drama in seven acts written around 12th century.
• Raghu-vilasa of Ramachandra written around 12th century.
• Raghavabhyudaya of Ramachandra written around 12th century. There are other three dramas of same name written by Gangadhara (1294 - 1325 A.D.), Bhagavan Raya and venkatesvara.
• Janaki-Raghava written around 12th century. Another Janaki-Ragava of Yuvraja ramasinha written in 1625 A.D.
• Rama-vikrama also is a lost Ramayana drama known only through the reference made to it by Sagaranandin. It is most likely a work of the 12th century A.D.
• Dutangada of Subhata. The Prologue of this play states that it was represented at the court of Tribhuvanapala, a Calukya king of Anhilvad who reigned in 1242-1243 A.D., at a spring festival held in honour of the dead king Kumarapala who restored the saiva temple of Devapattana in Kathiawad. Another Dutangada of Ramachandra.
• Amogha-raghava is a lost Ramayana-drama known only through the reference made to it by singabhupala. It may be assigned to the 13th century A.D.
• Abhirama-raghava is lost Ramayana-drama known only through the reference made to it by singabhupala. It seems to belong to the 13th cen. A.D
• Ullagha-raghava of Somesvara is a Ramayana drama belonging to the 13th century A.D. Somesvara . He was the- court-poet of Viradhavala and of Gujarat (1219-1271 A.D.). the Ms. of this drama is preserved in Baroda library.
• Unmatta-raghava of Bhaskara written around 14th century. The Unmatta-raghava gives a curious tale of Rama. Sita enters into a garden forbidden to the womenfolk and is transformed into a gazelle. Rama wanders in her search and his maddened soliloquies.The s'age Agasta takes pity and relieves Sita of the curse of Durvasa which was the cause of her transformation because once Durvasa disturb by gazelle.
• Unmatta-raghava of Mahadeva sastri.
• Ananda-raghava is a drama on the Ramayana theme. Its author Rajacudamani Diksita was the son of Srinivasa and Kamakshi and was patronised by king Raghunatha of Tanjore. He flourished in the last part of the 16th century. Anandaraghava describes in five acts the story of Rama from his marriage to coronation.
• Abhirama-mani of Sundaramisra is a drama in seven acts based on Ramayana written in 1599 A.D.
• Adbhuta-darpana of Mahadeva is a Ramayana-drama in ten acts. Mahadeva is the son of Krsna Suri of Tanjore and belongs to the 17th century A.D.
• Janaki-parinaya is a Ramayana-drama by Ramabhadra Diksita also belongs to the 17th century A.D.There are two more dramas of this name, one by Narayana Bhatta and the other by Sitarama.
• Raghavananda is a Ramayana-drama by Venkatesvara belonging to the last quarter of the 17th century in the court of Sahaji and Serfoji of Tanjore (1684-1728).
• Sita-raghava
• Lalita-raghava is drama on the Ramayana story by Ramapani deva belonging to the middle of the 18th century A.D.
• Maha-Nataka of Damodara written around 11th century and second written by Madhusudana around 14th century.

Rama is shown about to offer his eyes to make up the full number - 108 - of lotus blossoms needed in the puja that he must offer to the goddess Durga to gain her blessing. Scene from Krittivasi Ramayan.

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

States

• Andhra Pradesh - The Sri Ranganatha Ramayanam was adapted by Gona Budda Reddy and is the Telugu version of the Ramayana between 1300 and 1310 A.D.. The Molla Ramayanamu was adapted by poet Molla. The most extensive work in Telugu is that of Sri Viswanadha Satyanarayana, called the Srimadramayana Kalpavrikshamu. This is a free re-telling of the Valmiki Ramayana. It was awarded the first Jnanpith award in Telugu, for which the poet was later accaimed as Kavi Samrat.
• Assam - Saptakanda Ramayana, The Assamese Katha Ramayana or Kotha Ramayana in the 14th century by Madhava Kandali.
• Bengal - The Bengali Krittivasi Ramayan written by Krittibas Ojha in the 15th century.
• Goa - Ramayanu written by Krishnadasa Shama in the 15th century in Kardalipura, Goa in Konkani, manuscripts found in Portugal.[15][16]
• Gujarat - The Tulsi-Krta Ramayana is a Gujarati adaptation of Tulsidas' Ramcharitamanas in the 17th century, by the poet Premanand Swami.
• Jammu and Kashmir - The Kashmiri Ramavatara Charita was written in the 19th century.
• Karnataka - The Classical Kannada versions of the Ramayana – the Kumudendu Ramayana(a Jain version), written in the 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 12th century (1149 AD). Two prose works were written by Nanadalike Lakshminarayana ('Muddanna') entitled Adbhuta Ramayana (1895) and Ramaswamedham (1898).
• Kerala - The earliest known extant poetic work in Malayalam is Ramacharitam, based on Yuddha Kanda written by Cheeraman 12th century. The Kannassa Ramayanam written by Niranam Rama Panicker in the 16th century, Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilipattu written by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century (The most popular one) and "Mappila Ramayanam." among the Muslims.[17]
• Maharashtra - The Marathi Bhavartha Ramayana written by Sant Eknath in the 16th century. There is also a reference of a Ramayana being translated into old Marathi during the 12th or 13th century.
• Orissa Ramayana in Odisha has a long literary history.- The Odia Dandi Ramayana or Jagamohan Ramayana was adapted by Balaram Das in the 14th century. Vilanka Ramayana was written as a poem by Sarala Das in 15th century. After that Raghunath Bhanja of Gumusar wrote Raghunath Vilasa, and his grandson poet Upendra Bhanja wrote Baidehisha Vilasa in 17th Century. The most popular is Bisi Ramayana or Bichitra Ramayana written by Biswanath Khuntia which is also staged as Ramleela. The Ramkatha is found in the folk and tribal traditions of Odisha. The seminal work is by poet Haladhar Nag's Koshali Ramaaen, Chndrama Balia's Desia Ramayana and Harishing Majhi's Paharia Ramayana edited by Mahendra Kumar Mishra, a folklorist from Odisha during 2014-17.
• Uttar Pradesh (Awadh) - The Ramcharitmanas was written by Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th century.
• Tamil Nadu - The Tamil Kambaramayanam, a popular version, written by poet Kamban in the 12th century.

Languages

• Persian version commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1558-1590 and called Ramayana of Akbar.[18][19]
• Urdu version called the Pothi Ramayana was written in 1776.[20]

• 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 symbolised his dynastic merits.[21]
• 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.

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

East Asia

• China, Tibet - found in several manuscripts from Dunhuang[22]
  • Yunnan - Langka Sip Hor (Tai Lü language)
• Japan - Ramaenna or Ramaensho

Southeast Asia

• Cambodia - Reamker
• Indonesia:
  • Bali - Ramakavaca
  • Java - Kakawin Ramayana, Yogesvara Ramayana
  • Sumatera - Ramayana Swarnadwipa
• Laos - Phra Lak Phra Lam, Gvay Dvorahbi
• Malaysia - Hikayat Seri Rama, Hikayat Maharaja Wana
• Myanmar (Burma) - Yama Zatdaw (Yamayana)
• Philippines
  • Mindanao - Maharadia Lawana, Darangen (Moro)
• Thailand - Ramakien
  • Kingdom of Lan Na - Phommachak

South Asia

• Nepal - Siddhi Ramayan (Nepal Bhasa), Bhanubhaktako Ramayan (Khas language)
• Sri Lanka - Janakiharan

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. 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. From 1951 to 1975 a team of the University_Grants_Commission_(India) supported researchers who worked on and published a critical edition at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (MSU) Oriental Institute [23]. Based on this, in 1996 an abridged translation into English, was published by writer Arshia Sattar under the Penguin publishing house Valmiki Ramayana. 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.

Author Ashok Banker, authored an eight-volume imaginative retelling based on the Ramayana which found considerable success and was credited with ushering in a new wave of interest in the epic as well as other mythological retellings. Banker's version took considerable liberties with the original Sanskrit epic yet found critical acclaim. It is claimed to be the most popular retelling of the epic currently.

More recently, popular Indian lyricist, music director and singer, Ravindra Jain wrote the Hindi version of Ramayan named, Ravindra Ramayan (ISBN 978-9351862604) which was published after his death. RJ Group, which was formed by Ravindra Jain and his family, has uploaded all the kands (cantos) of Ravindra Ramayan on YouTube.

The latest in the retelling of the epic is from Ravi Venugopal, a US-based NRI narrating the story from the eyes of Rama. The first volume of the I, Rama trilogy is Age of Seers and is narrated by an age old Rama who introspects his life and the events happening with a pragmatic view. The book explores new perspectives of several characters and tries to give a scientific lift to the ancient epic.

• Ramayana
• Vernacular
• Epic Poetry

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