One of our fondest memories from childhood is when we gathered to watch Ramayan. When Ramayan was broadcasted again after 33 years it became the most watched show in the world with 7.7 crore viewers on the 16th of April 2020.
Here is a list of a few lesser known facts that might surprise you.
1. The first letter after every 1000 verses of Ramayan forms the Gayatri Mantra.
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्यः धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ।।
The Valmiki Ramayan has 24,000 verses and the Gayatri Mantra has 24 letters. Gayatri Mantra was first mentioned in the Rigveda. It is also known as Savitri Mantra. Gayatri is the goddess of Vedic Mantra.
2. Lord Ram was the avatar of Lord Vishnu but what about his brothers?
Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughna are considered to be the incarnations of Sheshnag, Sudarshan chakra and Panchajanya respectively. Panchajanya is the name of Lord Vishnu’s Shankh (Conch).
3. Laxman did not sleep during the 14 Years of Exile.
Laxman is also called Gudakesh (conqueror of sleep). Laxman did not sleep for 14 years in order to protect his brother and sister-in-law. This blessing was given to him by Nidra Devi (Goddess of sleep). Instead of him his wife Urmila slept for 14 years and completed her and Laxman’s share of sleep.
4. Lord Hanuman once covered his entire body with Sindoor.
Once Lord Hanuman asked Sita why she was putting sindoor on her forehead. Sita replied that as she is the wife of Lord Ram the sindoor was a symbol of her love and respect towards him. After listening to this, Lord Hanuman covered his whole body in sindoor as a symbol of his devotion, love and respect towards Lord Ram. Lord Ram was really impressed and granted a boon that anybody who worshipped Lord Hanuman with sindoor all their difficulties will go away.
5. Name of the forest where Ram, Sita and Laxman resided during the Exile.
Dandakaranya (Dand – to Punish and Aranya – Forest) was the name of the forest where Ram, Sita and Laxman stayed during exile. The forest is spread over 92,300 square km which includes part of present-day Chattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The forest was home to many fierce demons and hence got that name.
6. Jealousy of Indra led to Kumbhakaran receiving the blessing of sleep.
Once Kumbhakaran conducted a Yagya and Lord Brahma appeared at the completion of the Yagya and granted him a wish. Indra feared that he would ask for his position and seeked help from Goddess Saraswati. At the time of asking the boon Goddess Saraswati sat on Kumbhakaran’s tongue and he asked for ‘Nindrasan’ (Sleep) instead of ‘Indrasan’ (Throne of Indra).
7. Ravana was aware that he would be killed by Lord Ram.
Ravana was aware that he would be killed by an avatar of Lord Vishnu. This way he will attain salvation and will be and give up his demon form.
There are approximately 300 versions of Ramayan worldwide. The great Indian epic spread to many Asian countries like Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, and China. The derived version of Ramcharitramanas written by Tulsidas is known as The Ramkien (Glory of Ram) and is one of Thailand’s national epics.
Written By- Mr. Prateek Dwivedi
