Outlook asked people across India who Ram is and what the Ramayana means to them. Here is what we found.
In the traditional folk world of the region, Ram is popular as bridegroom and Ram as groom or son-in-law takes precedence over Ram the victor
A creative peep into the last hours of the Asura king Ravan after he is vanquished in the epic battle of Ramayan
Adivasis in Jharkhand contest the view that Ram worship has a long history in the tribal dominated state
A scholar reminisces his growing up in a sleepy town in Bihar and how its secular fabric changed after loud-mouthed Hindu fanatic leaders landed there
Hinduism is now going through a tectonic change, becoming more Abrahamic in its nature, invoking god’s name as an aggressive slogan, insisting on one holy place and the supremacy of one expression of god
Ram Navami And Dussehra in Northeast: In many tribal versions, certain characters and events of the Valmiki Ramayana change according to the culture, tradition, ecology and the animistic faiths. Hence, they become more of a...
Residents of Bisrakh, a village in Uttar Pradesh, claim to have descended from the Demon King Ravan and do not celebrate Dussehra
From Naggayu to Nagarjuna, mega stars of South cinema have played the 16th century Telugu Ram Bhakt singer-poet
Head of Kinnar Akhada tells how the transgender community got its legitimacy in 2018, with of course, Ram’s blessings
On Ram Navami, the Lord is welcomed with friendly abuses by the women, the way they treat other son-in-laws
Chandrabati's Ramayana marginalises Ram, and then goes on to critique him from Sita's perspective
Worship of Ram started in Kashmir after the Dogra rulers (1846-1947) erected temples dedicated to Ram in the Valley, including the Berber Shah temple....
Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Sukumar Ray and the Bengal Renaissance's encounters with Ram
A philologist's interpretation of the age when the epic of Ramayan was composed, based on the names of the characters in the story
Filmmaker Om Raut's "Adipurush", a big budget adaptation of the Ramayana, feels far from its source material, says the team of Ramanand Sagar's "Ramayan" that...
Looking into simpler, naïve, and rustic art interpretations of Ramayana and the importance of Ram in these traditions.
There are many entry points in any mythology. Ramayana is also the story of Raavan; the antagonist or the anti-hero. We have seen effigies of Raavan being...
Unlike Sita, who was pure, ideal, and unreal, Shurpanakha’s rawness made her a more attractive character in Ramayana. She was a brave woman who did not shy...
In Bihar and particularly, in Mithilanchal, people look at Rama as a son-in-law. In the folk songs, they sing about him being a groom and not about him winning...
वर्तमान समय में राम नीति की अत्यंत आवश्यकता है क्योंकि पूरा...
How Tulsidas and the Ramcharitmanas took the Ramlila to the people and gave birth to a unique people’s theatre.
In this issue, Outlook looks at the many versions of the mythology that has come to mean so many things to many people and has been appropriated and reduced to...
Popular in the Konkan belt, Dashavatars are a traditional theatrical presentation of dramatic scenes, which include any one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. Rama...
