Ramayana revisited

India International Centre (IIC) organised the book launch of Ram Varma’s Hindi version of Before he was god-Ramayana-reconsidred, recreated. The book which was launched by the president of Indian Council for Cultura Relations Dr. Karan Singh, takes out the Puranic dross and brings up the story of a man. 

Rama, the ancient idol of the heroic ages, the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband and above all, the ideal king, this Rama has been presented before us by the great sage Valmiki. Discarding all the hues of that time Ram Varma’s, Rama is a historic figure. The blank verses of his poetry, is the medium which increased the divinity of his renderings as no other language can be purer, none more beautiful and at the same time simpler. 

Varma’s rendering Ramayana is refreshingly different from the Valmiki’s Ramayana where ram is a historical figure like Krishna or Buddha. His re-creation takes support on the bedrock of the latest textual, sociological and archaeological research. In his own words, ‘The story recited by the well meaning pundits of Puranic times was a senseless exaggeration. It was vital to restore the attention of the viewers or the readers, but this beautiful story did not need any artificial support. Its beauty remains undiminished even in a realistic portraiture of events.’