The Ramayana, consisting of 24,000 shlokas or couplets and more than 500 sargas or chapters/cantos, is an Indian epic, sacred particularly to the Hindus. The original book Srimad Valmiki Ramayana, attributed to Sage Valmiki, was composed at some point between the fifth and the first century B.C. in Sanskrit, a classical Indian language, matching perfectly the epic’s magnitude, theme, mood and purpose. This adikavya or the “first ornate poem” (Winternitz 1981, 454) is followed by translations and retellings of Rama’s story in many Indian as well as foreign languages, all differently titled. For instance, the version in Tamil by Kambar or Kamban (1180- 1250) is the Kamba Ramayanam or Ramavataram (12th century), Kaviraja Madhava Kandali’s version in Assamese is
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Citation: Kar Barua, Sudeshna. "Ramayana". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 March 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23236, accessed 19 April 2024.]
