Books about Ramayana from Amazon.com

A sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict..
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Few works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience, in nations with radically different languages and cultures, as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Sanskrit verse epics written some 2,000 years ago.
In Ramayana (written by a poet known to us as Valmiki), William Buck has retold the story of Prince Rama--with all its nobility of spirit, courtly intrigue, heroic renunciation, fierce battles, and triumph of good over evil--in a length and manner that will make the great Indian epics accessible to the contemporary reader.
The same is true for the Mahabharata--in its original Sanskrit, probably the longest Indian epic ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle, between the Kurus and Pandavas, for land. In his introduction, Sanskritist B. A. van Nooten notes, "Apart from William Buck's rendition [no other English version has] been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic."
Presented accessibly for the general reader without compromising the spirit and lyricism of the originals, William Buck's Ramayana and Mahabharata capture the essence of the Indian cultural heritage..
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This retelling of one of India’s most sacred texts, the Ramayana, recounts how the great monkey army helped save Princess Sita from a demon king..
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The Ramayana (the Journey of Rama) is possibly the worldÕs oldest literature Revered through the ages for its moral and spiritual wisdom, it is an uplifting tale of romance and high adventure, recounting the odyssey of Rama, a great King of ancient India.
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The Sanskrit epic "The Ramayana" is, quite simply, the greatest of Indian epics - and one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytelling It tells how Prince Rama won the hand of the beautiful princess Sita, but was exiled with her and his brother for 14 years. During her exile Sita was carried off by the demon king Ravana, and Rama gathered an army of monkeys and bears to search for her. The allies attacked and killed Ravana, and rescued Sita. In order to prove her chastity, Sita entered fire, but was vindicated by the gods and restored to her husband. After the couple's triumphant return to Ayodhya, Rama's righteous rule (Ram-raj) inaugurated a golden age for all mankind.Among the greatest treasures of the British Library are five of the seven volumes of the illustrated manuscript of the Ramayana with originally over 400 paintings prepared between 1649 and 1653 for Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar at Udaipur in Rajasthan. The seven books of the Sanskrit epic were each illustrated on the grandest scale, with the paintings occupying the whole page in four different styles of Mewar painting, including two in the style of the studio master Sahib Din, whose signed work on the sixth book, "The Book of Battles", is one of the greatest works of seventeenth century Indian art. Unlike most such large series of Indian paintings, these have not been dispersed into various collections but remain intact. The huge scale of the project allowed the artists to focus on telling an epic story on the largest scale and the cumulative effect of seeing picture after picture packed with detail is overwhelming..
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Originally published in the year 1951,the book due to it's huge popularity has been re-printed 46 times,the latest being in the year 2007. The Ramayana is not history or biography It is a part of Hindu mythology. One cannot understand Hindu dharma unless one knows Rama and Seeta, Bharata, Lakshmana, Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Hanuman. More details: Mythology cannot be dispensed with. Philosophy alone or rituals alone or mythology alone cannot be sufficient. These are the three strands of all ancient religions. The attitude towards things spiritual which belongs to a particular people cannot be grasped or preserved or conveyed unless we have all these three. To millions of men, women and children in India, the Ramayana is not a mere tale. It has more truth and meaning than the events in one s own life. Just as plants grow under the influence of sunlight, the people of India grow in mental strength and culture by absorbing the glowing inspiration of the Ramayana. The popularity of the book is so great that it has run into forty two impressions ever since it was originally published in the year 1951.
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