Thread by @itihasika

RAMAYANA IN 21 TWEETS

You've seen it on TV, read books but have never seen a twitter thread that tells the summary

Please bookmark this and make sure you show it to your kids as a refresher.

RAMAYANA - A UNIQUE PICTURE THREAD

1) Long long Ago King Dashrath ruled the kingdom of Ayodhya by the banks of the river Sarayu.

He had three wives but no children. Sage Vashishtha asked Dashrath to do a Yagna.

A bowl of nectar came from the yagna and was given to the queens Sumitra, Kaikeyi and Kausalya

2) Kaulsalya had Ram, Kaikeyi had Bharat and Sumitra had twins Lakshman and Shatrughan.

At age 8 they started school under Rishi Vashishtha. All princes grew into handsome and intelligent adults

3) Rishi Vishwamitra requested Rama to help kill the demon Taraka that was harassing the Rishis.

When Rama did so successfully he took him to Mithila where a swayamvar of princess Sita was being conducted

4) The task was to lift the very heavy bow of Shiva and put the string on it.

No other prince could do it but Rama did it easily and Sita happily married him.

They returned to Ayodhya and all brothers were living a happy life

5) King Dashrat wanted to make Rama the king but Kaikayi's maid Manthara had convinced her that Rama would abadon her son Bharat after becoming king.

She had once saved Dashrat's life and hence had two boons from him

6) She asked for Rama to be sent to the forest for 14 years & Bharat to be king.

Dashrat and the people of Ayodhya were devastated but promises cannot be broken. Bharat refused to rule directly and used Rama's slippers instead on the throne

Dashrat died of heartbreak.

7) In the forest a demoness named Surpanaka saw Ram and asked him to marry her.

He said no as he was already married to Sita.

When she tried to attack Sita in anger, Lakshman cut off her nose and ears as punishment

8) She went and asked her powerful brothers Khar and Dushan to take revenge.

Both got killed in a battle with Ram.

So she went to her powerful brother – the king of Lanka –the ten headed almighty Ravan. He swore that he'll avenge this insult.

9) Ravana sent his uncle Mareech who was a shape shifter.

Mareech became a golden deer and jumped in front of ram's ashram Sita got enticed and asked Ram to get her that deer

10) When Ram went to pursue the deer and didn't return for a long time.

Lakshman got worried and went after Ram but before leaving drew a line called 'Lakshman Rekha' on the ground and asked Sita not to cross it for her own safety

11) Ravana came dressed as a monk and asked Sita to cross the line and give him food.

Sita got tricked and he kidnapped her in his flying chariot and starting taking her to Lanka.

A giant bird Jatayu tried to fight valiantly but was killed by Ravana

12) Ram and Lakshman were heartbroken when they came back.

While looking for Sita they found Jatayu who was taking his last breaths.

Jatayu told everything about how Ravana kidnapped Sita and took her to Lanka

13) Rama and Lakshmana came across a group of monkeys who were in a bad situation.

The king Sugriva had been banished by his powerful brother Vali.

Rama killed Vali & reinstated Sugriv on the throne of Kishkinda

In exchange got an army of monkeys to march to
Lanka

14) On reaching the Southern tip of India they see an ocean.

So Hanuman volunteered to fly across the ocean and confirm if Sita is in Lanka.

He confirmed it but gets caught by Ravana who set his tail on fire.

But he uses the fire to burn Lanka.

15) After Hanuman's return, Rama orders a bridge to be built with floating stones engineered by monkeys Nala & Neela.

The monkey army is at the gates of Lanka to fight with Ravan.

They are joined by Ravana's brother Vibheeshan who wants to be on the right side of history

16) Demon after demon is killed and finally the giant brother of Ravana, Kumbhakarana is sent to war.

He is awake only for 1 day in an year so he is specially woken up for battle.

After a very tough battle he too is killed

17) Then Ravan's most powerful son Indrajit is sent. Who first manages to severely injure Lakshman.

But Lakshman is revived by the herb sanjeevani that Hanuman gets back by lifting an entire mountain.

In the second battle Lakshman kills Indrajit.

18) A distraught Ravan goes for a final battle with Ram. After initial success using sorcery he is killed with an arrow to his heart as advised by Vibheeshan.

Ram hands the throne of Lanka to Vibheeshan and goes back to rule Ayodhya and live happily with Sita

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