The Ramayana belongs to a class of literature known in Sanskrit as Adi
kavya (poetry) and it forms the basis of Hindu married life. Originally Ramayana was written by a sage Valmiki in the Sanskrit language and later on it was translated into other languages in different versions. The original version of Ramayana is broken up into seven kand (books): Bala-kanda, Ayodhya-kanda, Aranya-kanda, Kishkindhya-kanda, Sundar-kanda, Yuddha-kanda and Uttara-kanda.
The main story of the Ramayana is about Lord Rama. The kingdom of Kosala with its capital at Ayodhya was ruled by King Dasaratha who had three queens - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. After performing the Putrakameshti Yagna (yagna performed for children), he had four sons - Rama, Bharatha, Lakshamana and Shatrughana.
Dasaratha wanted his eldest son Rama to ascend the throne of Ayodhya. However, his second queen Kaikeyi wanted Rama to be sent into exile for fourteen years and her son Bharatha to succeed Dashratha to the throne of Ayodhya. Dashratha had to agree to her demands. Bharatha was not aware of the plot, and was devoted to his elder brother.
Rama proceeded to the forest, accompanied by his brother Lakshmana and by his wife, Sita. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita.
But the Ramayana isn't only about Lord Rama and his attempt to rescue his consort Sita. Ramayana is also about devotion, loyalty, family roles and respect to elders. The Ramayana has been a perennial source of spiritual, cultural and artistic inspiration, not only to the people of India but also to the people all over the world. It has helped to mould the Hindu character and has inspired millions of people with the deepest of love and devotion.
The epic is of special interest to the historians and ethnologists because it depicts the social conditions of the Indian subcontinent during that period. It talks about the conflict of the Aryans with the local inhabitants of India and their Aryanization; the monkeys and bears who were Rama's allies were actually local people who bore the names of totems, as they currently do today. The original story of Rama and Sita was in Sanskrit and told in various forms. Indian emigrants and merchants brought the Ramayana to Indonesia in the tenth century AD and other versions arrived over the next six centuries. Indochina and Thailand received their version during the 16th century. Currently it is popular in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Burma, as well as other countries.