Topic
The Ramayana
Valmiki's Ramayana runs to about 24,000 Sanskrit verses, yet most Indians who know the story have never read it. It travelled by voice, by pilgrimage and by translation, and it crossed into Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China and Japan without an army. Here is everything Itiha has published on it: how the epic spread, how it has been retold, and what the archaeology at Ayodhya found.
Documentaries
When India Stopped to Watch the Ramayana
Most Indians never read Valmiki, yet everyone knew Rama. How the epic travelled through bards, regional poets and pilgrim routes, all the way to the 1987 Doordarshan Ramayan.
How the Ramayana Spread Across Asia
Thailand's king rules as Rama X and Muslim villagers in Java still watch the epic as shadow theatre. How the Ramayana crossed Asia on monsoon trade routes and the Silk Road, without an army.
The 1975 Ayodhya Excavations: B.B. Lal and the Historians
What B.B. Lal's Archaeology of Ramayana Sites project found next to the Babri Masjid, and how historians responded.
Essay
Shorts
How Did Lord Ram Leave Earth? The Hanuman Ring Story
Why India Banned the 1992 Anime Ramayana
Sai Pallavi's Ravana Controversy: What the Ramayana Says
Why E.V. Ramasamy Called Ravana the Hero of the Ramayana
How Kancherla Gopanna Became Bhadrachalam Ramadasu
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the Ramayana?
The Sanskrit Ramayana is attributed to the sage Valmiki. It has about 24,000 verses in seven books, or kandas. Most scholars think it took shape over several centuries, roughly between the 5th century BCE and the early centuries CE.
How many versions of the Ramayana are there?
Hundreds. Besides Valmiki there are regional retellings such as Kamban's Tamil Ramavataram, Krittibas Ojha's Bengali Ramayana and Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi, Jain and Buddhist versions, and Southeast Asian ones such as Thailand's Ramakien, Cambodia's Reamker and Java's Kakawin Ramayana.
How did the Ramayana spread outside India?
Through trade and religion rather than conquest. Merchants and Brahmins carried it by sea to Southeast Asia on the monsoon winds, and Buddhist monks carried it overland along the Silk Road to Central Asia and China.
What did the 1975 Ayodhya excavations find?
B.B. Lal's team reported rows of brick pillar bases beside the Babri Masjid, which Lal later argued belonged to an earlier temple-like structure. The 2003 ASI excavation ordered by the Allahabad High Court reported a large structure beneath the mosque, and the Supreme Court's 2019 judgment noted that it was not Islamic.
When was Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan broadcast?
On Doordarshan, every Sunday morning from 25 January 1987 to 31 July 1988. It is often described as the most watched series in Indian television history.