Rama's Journey

Fourteen years from a palace in Ayodhya, into the deep forests, across the sea to war - and home again by the light of a thousand lamps.

  1. Walking with the sage (Ayodhya → Mithila): The sage Vishwamitra leads young Rama and Lakshmana out of the palace and into the wild, where demons have been troubling the rishis' sacred fires. After guarding the sages and learning powerful mantras on the road, the princes arrive in Mithila - where an enormous, unbendable bow of Shiva is waiting.
  2. The wedding party comes home (Mithila → Ayodhya): Rama has broken the great bow, and now a joyful procession of chariots carries the newlyweds - Rama and Sita, and his brothers with their brides - back toward Ayodhya. On the road, the fierce sage Parashurama blocks their way to test Rama, and leaves satisfied that this prince is something truly special.
  3. Exile into the forest (Ayodhya → Chitrakuta): Trading silk for tree-bark clothes, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana walk out of Ayodhya as the whole city weeps. Guha the boatman ferries them across the Ganga at Shringaverapura, they rest at sage Bharadvaja's ashram at Prayaga, and at last they build their first forest home on the gentle mountain of Chitrakuta.
  4. Deeper into the south (Chitrakuta → Panchavati): Leaving Chitrakuta behind, the three exiles walk south for years through the vast Dandaka forest, moving from ashram to ashram and protecting the sages from rakshasas. They finally settle in lovely Panchavati, in a cottage Lakshmana builds beside the Godavari river - not knowing a golden deer will soon change everything.
  5. Sita carried over the sea (Panchavati → Lanka): Ravana snatches Sita from the cottage and flies south in his sky-chariot while she cries out for Rama. The brave old eagle Jatayu battles him in the air and falls - Telugu tradition says at Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh - before Ravana carries Sita over the ocean to his golden island of Lanka.
  6. The search for Sita (Panchavati → Kishkindha): Heartbroken but determined, Rama and Lakshmana walk south, following every clue. In the boulder-strewn vanara kingdom of Kishkindha, Rama meets Hanuman - the greatest friend anyone ever had - and helps Sugriva win back his throne. In return, search parties fly to every corner of the world.
  7. The army marches to the shore (Kishkindha → Rameswaram): Word comes that Sita is in Lanka, far across the southern sea. Sugriva's enormous vanara army - thousands upon thousands of forest warriors - marches south with Rama until the land simply runs out at Rameswaram, and the great blue ocean stretches ahead of them.
  8. Hanuman's impossible leap (Rameswaram → Lanka): The sea is a hundred yojanas wide, and only one hero can cross it. Hanuman grows to the size of a mountain and leaps - one single, impossible jump over the ocean. In Lanka he finds Sita under the ashoka trees, gives her Rama's ring, and before leaving, sets the golden city ablaze with his burning tail.
  9. The bridge and the battle (Rameswaram → Lanka): Now the whole army must cross. Stone by floating stone, the vanaras build the great Rama Setu across the sea - even a little squirrel helps - and Rama's army pours over it into Lanka. The war rages until Rama faces Ravana himself, and good finally overcomes the ten-headed king.
  10. Flying home for Deepavali (Lanka → Ayodhya): The fourteen years are over at last. Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman board the Pushpaka Vimana, a flying palace, and soar over everything - the bridge, the forests, the rivers - all the way home. Ayodhya glows with rows of little oil lamps to welcome them, and that is the very first Deepavali.