Rama

Rama (राम), also reverently known as Ramachandra, is the seventh avatar of the preserver deity Lord Vishnu in Hindu theology and the supreme epic hero of the monumental 'Ramayana'. Crown prince of the solar Kosala kingdom centered in Ayodhya, he embodies the highest moral archetype of 'Maryada Purushottama' — the ideal human being who never transgresses the sacred boundaries of righteousness, duty, and social ethics (dharma). His life was immortalized by sage Valmiki in the 'Adi Kavya' (The First Poem): after lifting and snapping Shiva's cosmic bow Pinaka at Mithila to win the hand of princess Sita, Rama willingly surrenders his accession to the throne on the very morning of his coronation to honor an old promise made by his father King Dasharatha to Queen Kaikeyi. Enduring fourteen years of voluntary wilderness exile in the Dandaka forest alongside his devoted wife Sita and faithful brother Lakshmana, Rama's fortitude is tested when the ten-headed rakshasa sovereign Ravana abducts Sita to Lanka through deceit. Forging an alliance with the vanara army led by King Sugriva and the divine devotee Hanuman, Rama builds the monumental floating stone bridge Rama Setu across the southern ocean, vanquishes Ravana using the celestial Brahmastra arrow, and rescues Sita. His triumphant return to Ayodhya marks the historical origin of the festival of Diwali, and his righteous reign of absolute justice established the enduring political ideal of the golden age (Ramarajya).

10 min read · Reviewed on September 30, 2026 · How we research

Bow and arrow, the crown, the devoted monkey Hanuman and his wife Sita

Primary sources

• Maharishi Valmiki, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (वाल्मीकि रामायण - Critical Edition of Baroda). translation: Hari Prasad Shastri (Shanti Sadan, 1952–1959) / Ralph T. H. Griffith (1870–1874). read
• Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, Mahābhārata (महाभारत - Vana Parva, Ramopakhyana). translation: Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–1896) / J. A. B. van Buitenen (1973). read
• Kalidasa, Raghuvaṁśa (रघुवंश - Cantos 9 a 15). translation: M. R. Kale (Motilal Banarsidass, 1925) / Arthur W. Ryder (1912).
• Attributed to Vyasa, Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa (अध्यात्म रामायण - Brahmanda Purana). translation: Swami Tapasyananda (Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1985). read
• Goswami Tulsidas, Rāmcaritmānas (रामचरितमानस). translation: W. D. P. Hill (Oxford University Press, 1952) / Gita Press Gorakhpur. read

Studies

• Robert P. Goldman, The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India (Volume I: Bālakāṇḍa). Princeton University Press, 1984. open
• Sheldon Pollock, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men. University of California Press, 2006. open
• B. B. Lal, Historicity of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana: What Does Archaeology Say?. Aryan Books International, 2008. open
• Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History. Penguin Press, 2009. open
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell, A History of Sanskrit Literature. D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1900. open