A Hindu epic, written by sage Valmiki. It is the story of Lord Rama's life.
The Ramayana is one of the most respected and oldest epics of Hinduism. It portrays the life of Lord Rama, who is believed to be a human incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Throughout his journey, Lord Rama does not use his supernatural powers and lives as a simple human. This epic prolixly explains the various duties of relationships such as, How should a king be?, How should a brother behave?, How must a wife be? and so on. The important characters of Ramayana are as follows:
- Dasharatha - King of Ayodhya, Father of Lord Rama.
- Kausalya - One of Dasharatha's wives, Mother of Lord Rama.
- Sumithra - One of Dasharatha's wives, Mother of Lakshmanan, Shatrughna.
- Kaikeyi - One of Dasharatha's wives, Mother of Bharatha.
- Janaka - King of Mithila, father of Sita and Urmila.
- Sunayani - Wife of Janaka.
- Kushathwaja - Brother of Janaka, father of Mandavi and Shrutakeerti.
- Lord Rama - Son of Dasharatha and Kausalya.
- Sita - Wife of Lord Rama and daughter of Janaka.
- Lakshmanan - Son of Dasharatha and Sumithra (also pronounced as Lakshmana, twin with Shatrughna)
- Urmila - Wife of Lakshmana and daughter of Janaka.
- Bharatha - Son of Dasharatha and Kaikeyi (also pronounced as Bharathan).
- Mandavi - Wife of Bharatha, daughter of Kushathwaja who is the brother of Janaka.
- Shatrughna - Son of Dasharatha and Sumithra (also pronunced as Chathrugnan).
- Shrutakeerti - Wife of Shatrughna, daughter of Kushathwaja, sister of Mandavi.
- Vaali - King of Kishkintha, Son of Indra.
- Sukreeva - Younger brother of Vaali.
- Hanuman - Believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva.
- Ravana - King of Sri Lanka.
- Vibheeshana - Younger brother of Ravana.
- Surpanakha - Sister of Ravana.
- Guha - A boatman who helped Lord Rama, when the latter was in the jungle.
- Jatayu - A vulture who informed Lord Rama about Ravana, when the latter kidnapped Sita.
