1. facts
1.1. it is common to be raised hearing Ramayana
1.2. people are considered ignorant if they dont know the story
1.3. now televised
1.4. teaches people to believe
1.5. art of Ramayana is popular
1.6. has been a spoken story since 1500 BC
2. the chapters
2.1. Bala Kanda
2.1.1. Rama and Lakshmana, as well as their siblings are born
2.1.2. Rama strings the bow of King Janaka of Videha
2.1.3. the king gives his daughter Sita to Rama
2.2. Ayodhya Kanda
2.2.1. Ramas father gets old
2.2.2. wants to make Rama king
2.2.3. Ramas father's mistress reminds him of her one wish that must be granted for giving him children
2.2.4. she banishes Rama for fourteen years and makes her son Bharata heir to the throne
2.2.5. Sita and Lakshmana go with him
2.2.6. Their father dies and Bharata is supposed to be king but says it is Ramas throne
2.3. Aranya Kanda
2.3.1. Rama partakes in many battles with demons
2.3.2. Ravana is told by his sister of Sita's beauty
2.3.3. kidnaps Sita
2.4. Kishkindha-Kanda
2.4.1. Rama meets the monkeys
2.4.2. they know that Sita is in Lanka
2.5. Sundara-Kanda
2.5.1. Hanuman flew across the ocean
2.5.2. then made himself a cat and crept around the town
2.6. Yuddha-Kanda
2.6.1. they build a bridge to Lanka
2.6.2. ocean god helps them get across the ocean
2.6.3. many battles and Hanuman finds herbs that cure Rama and Lakshmana at once
2.6.4. Rama kills Ravana
2.6.5. Rama gets Sita back but says he cannot be with her because she lived in another mans house
2.6.6. Sita goes into the fire to prove she did nothing wrong
2.6.6.1. Agni, the fire god tells Rama she is pure
2.6.7. Rama becomes king
2.7. Uttara-Kanda
2.7.1. Rama's people are mad that he took Sita back
2.7.2. Lakshmana takes Sita to the Ganges and deserts her
2.7.3. she has twins, Kusha and Lava
2.7.4. Rama meets his sons when they recite Ramayana to him at a festival
2.7.5. Rama makes Sita vow that these are his sons
2.7.6. the earth swallows her
2.7.7. Rama gives his power to his sons and goes to heaven to be with Sita
3. different versions
3.1. Indian Version
3.1.1. Tulsidas Ramayana is the most popular version
3.1.2. Goswami Tulsidas rewrote the Tulsidas Ramayana in 1574 and focused more on the fact that Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu
3.1.3. Kamban Ramayana is another popular version but mostly in Tamil Nadu
3.1.3.1. written in Tamil
3.1.4. some parts of the story were rewritten to better show the ideas of Tamil
3.2. Out of India Version
3.2.1. Thailand
3.2.1.1. form of Ramakian is the national epic
3.2.1.2. tells more about Ramas battle with Totsaken
3.2.1.3. little plot change, but some
3.2.1.3.1. Sita only gives birth to one son. The magician then gives her a second
3.2.1.3.2. most of the religious aspects are taken out because the Thai people are mostly Buddhists
3.2.2. Indonesia
3.2.2.1. the only way it is preformed is as a puppet show
3.2.2.2. plot is mainly the same
3.2.2.3. Ramas mother is paralyzed
3.2.2.4. Shatrugna, Ramas third brother does not exist
3.2.2.5. stories of the characters are different
4. Bibliography
5. characters
5.1. Rama - one of the incarnations of Vishnu as well as the king of Ayodhya and main character of Ramayana
5.2. Sita - incarnation of Lakshmi and Rama's wife who is captured by Ravana
5.3. Ravana - evil king of Sri Lanka who lives in palace where he brings Sita and tries to get her to accept his proposal of marriage
5.4. Hanuman - the monkey general who is highly devoted to Rama and helps him greatly
5.5. Sugriva - king of the monkeys who makes sure all the monkeys try to help Rama
5.6. Lakshmana - Rama's half brother who thinks the world of him and is always by his side
6. history
6.1. Ramayana is as large as the bible and it has been known to man since 700 BCE when it was written by Valmiki in Sanscrit
6.2. mainly talks about Rama as a hero
6.3. Written in verses called Sloka, in Sanskrit, and in Anustup
6.3.1. Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language
6.4. the verses are divided into chapters called Sargas
6.4.1. specific events or stories are told within the Sargas
6.5. the Sargas are then divided into books called Kaandas
6.5.1. Kaanda refers to the stem of sugar cane
6.5.2. Kaanda can also refer to a particular story or event while a story is read