However, in order to make people see an ideal person who sticks to Dharma so that they can emulate him despite all adversities, it was called “Ramayana”. In fact, even before Ramayana, it was named “Sitayas Charitam Mahat” wherein the story was meant to be cental to Sita. He is just a mortal human character in his story. Lord Ram is not aware he is a god in the original version of RamayanaĪt no place in Valmiki Ramayana, Valmiki ever mentioned that Ram is a God. In northern parts of India, old tribes used to tell stories about Ramayana, from which this story of Lakshamana Rekha came. However, there are more than 200 books versions of Ramayana. He draws a line around the cottage and requests Sita not to cross that line in any situation.Īs the story goes she does cross the line and is kidnapped by Ravan the antagonist of Ram but in the real Ramayana, there is no mention of Lakshaman Rekha.Įven in Ramcharitmanas, which was written by Saint Tulsidas, it also doesn’t directly feature this story. Lakshaman initially refuses then agrees on one condition. Sita insists Lakshaman go and look for his brother Ram. Meanwhile, Lakshaman hears a scream of Ram, which was actually a trap by Marich, a Rakshasa (demon) who was disguised as golden deer. Lord Ram tracks and follows it into the forest. The story goes like this - Sita sees a golden deer wandering around the forest, she asserts her husband Ram to catch it. The well-known term very commonly used as a metaphor for a line that can’t be crossed is actually line (border) drawn by Lakshama by his arrow to protect Sita. You will be surprised to know that there is no mention of Lakshaman Rekha in the original Valmiki Ramayana. There is no Lakshaman Rekha in Valmiki Ramayana It was then he identified Rama and asked him to string his Vishnu bow narrating a war that took between Shiva and Vishnu long before. However, as per Valmiki Ramayan, once the marriage of all the four princes of Ayodhya was complete, when the marriage convoy was advancing to Ayodhya, the son of Jamadagni, Parsuram presented himself.
The TV series shows that Parashuram arrived in Mithila after the completion of Swayamvar demanding the single combat with Rama. It was only then Rama playfully lifted the bow and as he was stringing it the bow broke into two. When the bow was shown to Rama, he asked Janaka if he would be allowed to string the bow. When they entered the royal palace of Janaka, Vishwamitra asked the king to show the bow to Rama. Ram attended that Swayamvar and after everyone failed to lift the bow, he lifted it. In the TV series, it is shown that there was a Swayamvar which was conducted in Mithila now in Nepal. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means groom in this context. Swayamvar, in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. There was no Swayamvar for Sita in the Valmiki Ramayan Lets us have a look at the difference between the original Valmiki Ramayan and Ramayan TV Series 1. However, it kind of picks the events from both and can’t be said to be completely based on one version. It actually is more influenced by Ramcharitramanas in ways of storytelling than the Valmiki Ramayana. While the date of Valmiki Ramayana is unknown the Tulsidas Ramayana was written in 1574 CE. The TV series is essentially a combination of the narrative of Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas written by 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas.
While the overall message and the core story remains the same, you’ll be surprised to know that there are actually some major differences between the TV series and the original Valmiki Ramayana. For them what’s been narrated in the TV series is the actual great epic of Ramayana in Hinduism. Hardly any TV series can claim the cultural and religious influence that Ramanyana had on many generations in India and Indians around the world. It attracted a lot of fanfare and adulation when it was retelecasted again from 28 March 2020 to 18 April 2020 during Coronavirus lockdown in India on DD National. To be honest a good number of people know the Ramayana as it has been told in Ramayana TV series by Ramanand Sagar, first aired in 1987.