Born during an age when the demon Ravana terrorized the world, Rama is the virtuous, wise, and powerful prince of Ayohya. As a young man, he is able to accomplish what no other man has ever done: he lifts and strings the bow of Siva, and by so doing her earns the right to marry the beautiful Sita.
Just when he is about to ascend the throne of Ayodhya, his father Dasaratha is forced to exile him for fourteen years to the forest due to a vow made long ago. Unruffled, Rama accepts his exile; his wife Sita and his loyal brother Lakshmana accompany him. In the forest, the princely brothers kill many demons and visit many wise men and women.
The evil demon Ravana hears of Sita's beauty, and kidnaps her. He has fallen in love with her and tries to seduce her, but she rebuffs his advances for nearly ten months.
Desperate to win her back, Rama and Lakshmana form an alliance with the monkey king Sugriva, and invade Lanka with an army of monkeys. After many violent battles, Rama defeats Ravana and wins back Sita. He is concerned that she has been unfaithful during her long captivity, and so Sita undergoes a trial by fire to prove her chastity. Rama takes her back, and they return to rule Ayodhya for many wonderful years.
In another version of the tale, Rama hears his people gossiping about Sita's imagined indiscretions, and he banishes her to the forest, where she gives birth to Rama's twin sons. Sita and the children confront him years later; he tries to explain his harsh actions to Sita, but she vanishes into the earth to escape him.
Dasharatha was the King of Ayodhya and had three wives and four sons. Rama was the eldest and his mother was Kaushalya. Bharata was the son of Dasharatha’s second and favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two were twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna whose mother was Sumithra. In the neighboring city the ruler’s daughter was named Sita. When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom (at a ceremony called a swayamvara) princes from all over the land were asked to string a giant bow which no one could lift. However, as Rama picked it up, he not only strung the bow, he broke it. Seeing this, Sita indicated that she had chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around his neck. Their love became a model for the entire kingdom as they looked over the kingdom under the watchful eye of his father the king.
A few years later, King Dasharatha decided it was time to give his throne to his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest. Everyone seemed pleased, save Queen Kaikeyi since she wanted her son Bharata to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years before, she got the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to crown Bharata, even though the king pleaded with her not to demand such a request. The devastated King could not face Rama and it was Queen Kaikeyi who told Rama the King’s decree. Rama, always obedient, was content to go into banishment in the forest. Sita and Lakshmana accompanied him on his exile.
One day Rama and Lakshmana wounded a rakshasas (demon) princess who tried to seduce Rama. She returned to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka. In retaliation, Ravana devised a plan to abduct Sita after hearing about her incomparable beauty. He sent one of his demons disguised as a magical golden deer to entice Sita. To please her, Rama and Lakshmana went to hunt the deer down. Before they did though, they drew a protective circle around Sita and told her that she would be safe for as long as she did not step outside the circle. After Rama and Lakshmana left, Ravana appeared as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita stepped outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabbed her and carried her to his kingdom in Lanka.
Rama then sought the help of a band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita. Hanuman, the general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind. He flew to Lanka and, finding Sita in the grove, comforted her and told her Rama would come to save her soon. Ravana’s men captured Hanuman, and Ravana ordered them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman escaped and hopped from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka on fire. He then flew back to Rama to tell him where Sita was.
Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army built a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and crossed over to Lanka where a cosmic battle ensued. Rama killed several of Ravana’s brothers and eventually confronted the ten-headed Ravana. He killed Ravana, freed Sita and after Sita proved here purity, they returned to Ayodhya where Bharata returned the crown to him.
The play ended successfully and we took some pictures to the performer.
