हिंदी
Ramayana has been an intrinsic part of our lives for the longest times. We have read the books, we have seen various adaptations of it and we all known the story. However, there are few facts that are not very known:
- Sita’s name during exile was Vaidehi.
- Lanka was initially built by Kuber, the god of wealth. He was later overthrown by his half- brother Ravana who then took over the kingdom.
- Rama is considered to be the incarnation or avatar of Vishnu and Laxman is considered to be the avatar of the serpent associated with Vishnu, Sheeshnaag.
- Laxman killed three sons of Ravana- Prahast, Atikay and Meghad. In the stories, only Meghad is discussed.
- Nandi, the bull, had cursed Ravana. He had said that monkeys would be his destruction. Now we all know the relevance behind Hanuman setting Lanka on fire!
- The white stripes on the squirrel’s body were given by Rama. He was praising a squirrel that tried to help them and patted it on the back. The finger prints appeared as white stripes on the back.
- Sita had already broken the Shiv Dhanush during her childhood. This was the reason why King Janak had out the condition of breaking the bow during her swayamvar.
- Hanuman is called Bajrang Bali because he had covered himself in sindhoor to keep Rama safe.
- Laxman did not sleep for the duration of their exile in an effort to guard Rama and Sita. He is also known as Gudakesh, the man who defeated sleep.
- Urmila, who is the wife of Laxman is one of the lesser known characters of Ramayana. She slept for 14 years during the course of the exile and made up for Laxma’s share of sleep as well.
- The reason Ravana has 10 heads is because he sacrificed his head 10 times to impress Shiva. When Shiva was impressed he gave Ravana all those 10 heads.
- Rama was considered a human being by Valmiki but he is called a god in the Rama Charit Manas.
