Sita had been born of a furrow in the earth (this is what her name means). Rama won the hand of his wife Sita in an archery contest, in which he was the only contender able to bend a bow that had once belonged to Shiva.
He is considered to be the seventh incarnation of the great god, Vishnu. The gods had declared that he was born for the specific purpose of defeating the demon-king Ravana. Rama was the eldest son of the great king Dasharatha. The basic storyline is provided here, but teachers and students should expect to see great variation and greater detail with reference to each episode. This is particularly true regarding how the story ends see below. Although the same core narrative is used (or referred to) in most of these versions, there are significant differences among them. There are many other versions of the epic in the many regional languages found in South Asia. The Ramayana by the sage Valmiki is one of the great epics of the Sanskrit language, and is dated to approximately 200 B.C.E. The Ramayana is told and retold orally, through literature (and comic books!), plays, movies and is reference in many other forms of popular culture today. Along the way, it teaches Hindu life lessons. It is the story of King Rama who must save his kidnapped wife, Sita. The Ramayana is an all-popular epic in South and Southeast Asia.
