The Ramayana
The Ramayana is one of the two great epic poems of India. The other is the Mahabharata. Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is a human form of the god Vishnu. In the Ramayana, he is the son and heir of an Indian king.
The poet Valmiki supposedly wrote the first version of the Ramayana in Sanskrit about 500 B.C. or earlier. It has 24,000 couplets. Translated or rewritten versions appear in other Indian languages. The Hindi version, written by the poet Tulsidas, also spelled Tulsi Das, in the late 1500's, became the most popular. The Ramayana remains popular today because of its characters who set high standards for human behavior and inspire devotion to God. Readers also enjoy the beautiful language and exciting plot of the Ramayana.
Excerpt from the "Ramayana" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999