kiskiKAHANI (the Ramayana Project)

Hanuman was a monkey, and like all monkeys, he could never be quite still. He swung from branches, jumped over rocks and swam through streams . Every time he saw a Brahmin praying, he found ways to distract him. If the Brahmin was offering water, Hanuman would drink it, if the Brahmin was praying by a fire, Hanuman would douse it, if a Brahmin had a beard long enough, Hanuman would pull it.

Finally the Brahmins had had quite enough, so they got together in a secret hiding place where they lit a fire and prepared a curse: that Hanuman would forget the truth about himself and his powers until he was reminded of them at the time when he needed them most.

Panchamukhi Hanuman pataka, gouache on cotton. Jodhpur. 19th century and Hanuman in the 20th century, taken from a temple wall in Madhya Pradesh.

Tataka in Sanskrit, Kakanasun in Thai, Jagina in Malay and Tatakai in Tamil, was once a beautiful yaksha princess.  Suketu, a yaksha king, prayed for many years to Lord Brahma for a son. After much praying and fasting, Suketu was blessed with a beautiful daughter whom he named Tataka. Years later, Tataka married Sumali and had two sons, Maricha and Subahu, and a daughter, Kaikesi. Tataka married her Kaikesi to the great Rishi Vishrava in the hope that their children would rule the three worlds. Kaikesi produced Ravana, the mighty king of Lanka, Vibhishana, Kumbhakarana and Shurpanakha.

Taraka vadh, a print by the Ravi Varma Press, c.1910′s

One morning, as Valmiki was going to the river Tamasa to bathe, he saw a pair of kraunca birds who were so much in love that it seemed as if the world, the sun, and the invisible moon stopped what they were doing to gaze at them in wonder. Valmiki, too, stopped to watch the birds as they shared their secrets. Like all other secrets, these secrets, too, had little to do with living and everything to do with loving. Suddenly, from behind a thicket of leaves, an arrow shot down the male bird. Valmiki was so moved by the grief of the surviving birs that he cursed the hunter. “You have separated these birds who were deeply in love. Never in your life will you be able to rest, you shall wander homeless as long as you live!”

The shloka metre emerged from Valmiki’s shoka (sorrow) and soon after, Valmiki sat down to write a story about a man who loved a woman and lost her.

When it came to building a home for themselves in the forest, Lakshmana, whose love for Rama knew no bounds, asked his brother where he would like their new home to be built. Rama looked around the dense forest and saw a spot by the Godavari, lined with trees.

“Lakshmana, that is where we must build our new home. There is a pond close by that shimmers like the back of a peacock. It’s surafce is covered by the bluest lotuses and you can smell the flowers from those creepers that seem to weigh the trees down. And look!  Deer and peacocks wander freely. Nothing would make  me happier than living in this place.”

Rama, Lakshmana and Sita in the Forest was printed in 1920 at the Raja Ravi Varma Press.