Tags

Description

The Ramayana is, quite simply, the greatest of Indian epics and one of the world's supreme storytelling masterpieces. 'Almost every individual living in India,' writes R. K. Narayan in the Introduction to this new interpretation, 'is aware of the story of The Ramayana. Everyone of whatever age, outlook, education or station in life knows the essential part of the epic and adores the main figures in it - Rama and Sita. Every child is told the story at bedtime . . . The Ramayana pervades our cultural life.' Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki, probably around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless variant versions in different languages. Here, drawing his inspiration from the work of an eleventh-century Tamil poet called Kamban, Narayan has used his considerable storytelling gifts to produce a concise, modern prose version of the epic that brings its timeless themes of duty, love, loyalty, and the triumph of good over evil to a new generation of readers.