Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu and the king of Kosala, is one of the most revered gods in Hinduism. The central character of the major Hindu epic Ramayana, he is considered the ‘ideal man’ and a model to emulate by many. According to the epic, Ram overcomes great adversities and upholds his dharma till his last breath. He is respectful, loyal, brave and humble. In short, he is a maryada purushottam, the man who follows all the rules.
Admirable though his reputation is, preserving it costs him the most important relationship in his life–the one with his wife Sita. At one point in the story, when his wife’s chastity is questioned by his subjects, Ram decides to abandon her. The king’s wife should be above all doubt, he is told. And he succumbs to the pressure.
Through the ages, Ram’s treatment of Sita has been deemed unfair by devotees and scholars alike. And in the recent times, several writers have attempted to retell the story of Ramayana from Sita’s point of view. Among them is Devdutt Pattanaik with his version–Sita’s Ramayana. Blending his knowledge of the various versions of Ramayana with his own imagination, the author has put forth an illustrated retelling of the epic for the modern reader.
Pattanaik starts with a few brief chapters talking about Ramayana itself, the time period in which it is set and the preceding and succeeding events described in the epic. He explains how the Ramayana came to be written and talks about the many different versions. With illustrations and tables containing facts about the epic, Pattanaik sets the backdrop for the book.
Then, Sita’s story begins. From the highly unusual ‘birth’ of the princess (she is dug out from the earth by King Janaka) to her marriage to Ram, from her abduction by the demon king Ravana to her eventual rescue and the bitter aftermath, Pattanaik manages to keep the reader hooked. Even the smaller stories that form the jigsaw of the massive epic are a delight to read.
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