17Illustrated Story
The Exile That Changed Everything
Chapter-based visual story
Stories That Stay · 24Interactive12 minBeginnerSample draft
One Ramayana, Many Ramayanas
There is no single Ramayana. There are hundreds, and they don't all agree.
Sample draft, not yet publishedEditors must verify the period and authorship on every card with a scholarly source and label dates "approximate". VERIFY
Many tellings
Most people meet the Ramayana as one story: Rāma's exile, Sītā's abduction, the war with Rāvaṇa and the return home. But the story has been told in Sanskrit and in dozens of other languages, in poetry, song, painting, dance and shadow-puppet theatre, across South and Southeast Asia.
Each telling names its own version. "The Ramayana" usually means Vālmīki's Sanskrit text, but Tulsidas's Rāmcharitmānas or Kamban's Rāmāvatāram are just as central to the communities who read them.
Explore the map · tap a point
Tap a point on the map
Eight tellings, one story world
Each point opens a card: the language, the author, the approximate period, and one way the telling differs. Two classical tellings that belong to no single region are listed under the map.
Across regions:
Map is schematic. Points mark the language region of each telling, not a single place of composition.
SanskritVālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
- Author
- Attributed to Vālmīki
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- The earliest full telling, and the reference point most later versions respond to.
Kamban's Rāmāvatāram
- Author
- Kamban
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- Different emphases in character and poetry, and a celebrated literary work in its own right.
Tulsidas's Rāmcharitmānas
- Author
- Tulsidas
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- A devotional retelling central to North Indian bhakti and to the Rāmlīlā performance tradition.
Kṛttibāsī Rāmāyaṇa
- Author
- Attributed to Kṛttibās Ojhā
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- Part of a regional storytelling tradition, with episodes and tone shaped for Bengali audiences.
Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇam Kilippāṭṭu
- Author
- Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- A philosophical and devotional framing, told as a song sung by a parrot.
Paumacariya
- Author
- Vimalasūri
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD] VERIFY
- How it differs
- A Jain retelling with a different ending for Rāvaṇa.
Ramakien
- Author
- [AUTHORSHIP NOTE] VERIFY
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD]
- How it differs
- The national epic of Thailand, with its own characters, settings and emphases.
Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa and wayang
- Author
- [AUTHORSHIP NOTE] VERIFY
- Period
- [APPROXIMATE PERIOD]
- How it differs
- An Old Javanese poem, and a living shadow-puppet performance tradition.
Text version of the map
| Telling | Language / region | One way it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa | Sanskrit | The earliest full telling; the reference point |
| Kamban's Rāmāvatāram | Tamil | Different emphases in character and poetry |
| Tulsidas's Rāmcharitmānas | Awadhi | Devotional retelling central to North Indian bhakti and Rāmlīlā |
| Kṛttibāsī Rāmāyaṇa | Bengali | Regional storytelling tradition |
| Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇam Kilippāṭṭu (Ezhuthachan) | Malayalam | Philosophical, devotional framing |
| Paumacariya (Vimalasūri) | Prakrit, Jain tradition | A Jain retelling with a different ending for Rāvaṇa |
| Ramakien | Thai | National epic of Thailand |
| Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa and wayang | Javanese | Shadow-puppet performance tradition |
Why it matters today
A story can belong to many communities at once.
Retelling is part of the tradition, not a threat to it. When someone says "that's not how the Ramayana goes", the honest reply is often "which one?" A widely cited essay by A. K. Ramanujan, "Three Hundred Ramayanas", makes this case; it is also contested, and we present it as one scholarly view.
Your turn
Which telling did you grow up with?
Anonymous. Sample starting counts for the preview.
Go deeper
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — Gita Supersite Sanskrit text; trans. [TRANSLATOR].
- Tulsidas, Rāmcharitmānas — Gita Supersite text; trans. [TRANSLATOR].
- A. K. Ramanujan, "Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation", in [Collection], [Publisher], [Year]. VERIFY
- [Scholarly survey of Ramayana traditions in South and Southeast Asia], [Publisher], [Year].
Keep exploring
12Interactive
Hindu Universe22 minDeeper
One Tradition, Many Traditions
Cultural map + timeline
Planned
32Interactive
Ancient Ideas, Modern Life11 minBeginner
Pluralism: How Do We Live With Difference?
Neighbours who pray differently, friends who don't pray at all. Scenarios on living well with difference.
In production
Next in this series
→