Indian epics contain many examples of specialized human skills. One such example is the archery skill to shoot an arrow to hit an invisible sound source. Shabda-vedha (sabda vedha), as it is known, remained the gift of very few. The most noted one related to this ability is perhaps theContinue Reading
We all know that Dasaratha had four sons and they are central to the theme of Ramayanam. But Dasaratha’s daughter Santa has not attracted as much attention as his sons. Santa was Dasaratha’s first child – her mother was Kausalya. She was born much before the sons. King Lomapada ofContinue Reading
Vararuchi was one of the Navaratnas in the court of King Vikramaditya. The King one day challenged Vararuchi to identify the most important shloka of Ramayana. Vararuchi did not know. Vikramaditya asked him to find out the answer in forty-one days or else leave the country. Vararuchi wandered many placesContinue Reading
Ravana is the ‘ten headed’ demon – villain of the story of Ramayana. But did he really have ten heads ? How could someone have ten heads and live a normal life ? Many films and books have picturised Ravana as a comical looking character with ten heads one besidesContinue Reading
Three Striped Palm Squirrel (also known as Indian Palm Squirrel) is a small rodent found abundantly to the south of Vindhyas. If the legend is true, it is during the Ramayana days that the squirrel acquired its trademark three stripes. The story goes like this. Prior to the war, theContinue Reading
Kaikeyi, at the instigation of Manthara, demanded two boons from Dasaratha, just before the coronation of Rama – the turning point in the story of Ramayanam. How did Kaikeyi get the two boons ? There seems to be more than one answer to this question. But let us see whatContinue Reading