Bhagwan Ram outside India

Maharishi Valmiki’s Ramayana is a much-loved tale of good triumphing over evil, the world over. Valmiki Ramayana is recognized as the original but over 300 Ramayana versions are known to exist, especially in South East Asia, when around the 12th and 13th centuries, the region received and imbibed many of the cultural traits, along with goods and services, traveling from Indian shores.


Many of the versions may not ascribe to certain values in the original Ramayana but different versions and interpretations are found in Indian versions of Ramayana as well. For example, some different characters are found in Jain texts. Such texts seem to have influenced Ramayana versions outside India. Ram is depicted and considered as a respectable figure in the Buddhist version in South Asian countries. The Buddhist version of Ramayana is called `Dasarata Jataka’. We find two versions here. Firstly, Dashratha sent Ram, Sita, and Laxmana to live in the forest to protect them from his third ambitious wife. The second version does not have the abduction of Sita.

The fact is that both versions got immense popularity and gained social acceptance. It is seen that Ramayana was even used by the rulers to legitimize their kingship. Eleventh-century Burmese stone is found, with an inscription in the Mon language. The inscription describes King Kyanzittha, who belonged to the Bagan dynasty, as Ram’s close relative. In several countries like Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar, Hinduism had a large following before Buddhists entered in these regions. Orissa and Tamil sea merchants were responsible for the proliferation of Indian culture to Southeast Asia, when they would undertake an annual voyage, and along with the goods exchanged stories. In some Southeast Asian versions, Hanuman is depicted as someone playing mind games, who charms and outwits, especially the female characters. Despite having multiple versions, Ram continues to be a dominant character in these countries.

The Cambodian Ramayana is known as Reamker (Ramakerti–Ram + Kirti/glory), a text of Khmer literature, which takes from both Hinduism and Buddhism to demonstrate the balance of good and evil. In Cambodia, Ram is known as Phreah Ream, and Sita, Neang Seda. A corridor with carved episodes on Ramayana is seen in 12th-century Angkor Wat ruins. Some murals are also noticed on the walls of Phnom Penh’s royal palace. Interestingly, Hanuman is shown expanding his body between India and Sri Lanka so that Ram’s army could cross the sea.

The monarchs of Thailand, erstwhile Siam, used to call themselves as descendants of Ram. Their names had Ram either as a prefix or a suffix. Its capital city was Ayutthaya, which sounds similar to Ayodhya. In the 18th century, Burmese soldiers invaded Ayutthaya, and the name was changed to Rama I, this happened despite him being a practicing Buddhist. Later, he wrote the Thai version of Ramayana, which is known as Ramakien and it is still considered as a national epic.

Myanmar (Burma) has a national epic, known as Yamayana; Yama or Zatdaw was introduced during King Anawratha’s reign in the 11th century CE. This version calls Ram as Yama and Sita as Thida. Ravana is called Yawana. Ram is portrayed as a Bodhisattva. The narrative is mostly the same as Valmiki’s Ramayana, except for localised names of places and characters.

In Laos, the national epic is Phra Lak Phra Ram. Lao devotees believed that their ruler King Lava was Ram’s son. They believe that Lava gave Laos its name. This is viewed as a Jataka story. Malay version of Ramayana - Hikayat Seri Rama – is very similar to the original Sanskrit text. But the central character in Malaysia is Laxman and not Ram.

Spread and versions of Ramayana in Southeast countries can be understood by the fact that every island has different versions.

In Bali, it is Ramakavaca, in Java its Kakawin or Yogesvara Ramayana, and in Sumatra it is Ramayana Swarnadwipa. In the latter version, Tamawaka (Ram) rescues Himegini (Sita), from Baramon (Ravan). The Javanese Kakawin is a Sanskrit-metre-poetry composed during the Medang kingdom era. In some Indonesian versions, Sita is shown as a fierce lady, who fought against Asuras on her own. In the Maranao version of the Philippines, which is called as Maharadia Lawana, a completely new version is seen, in which adventures of monkeys can be seen. Deep influence of Ramayana on Southeast countries continues even today. The opening ceremony of the 2017 ASEAN summit involved a staging of the musical version of Ramayana.

In China, few parts picked up orthodox and ethical values noted in the Indian epic. Jataka Katha of Ram are popular with the Chinese. China has also a Buddhist text Liudu ji jing. This is an elaborate account of the Ramayana, while in Sun Wukong, Hanuman finds some representation in the form of a monkey-king.

Japan has two versions namely, Hobutsushu and Sambo-Ekotoba. Hanuman has a diminutive role in another adaptation titled, Ramaenna or Ramaensho, and in the Bontenkoku version, Tamawaka (Ram), a flute player rescues his wife Himegini (Sita) from King Baramon (Ravan).

In Nepal, Mahakavi Siddhidas Mahaju Amatya wrote Siddhi Ramayana in the Nepal Bhasa. There’s also Bhanubhakta Acharya’s Bhanubhaktako Ramayana in Khas language. However, the revelry of Dussehra called Dasain or Mohini in Nepal is more about the Goddess Durga, than Ram’s triumph over Ravan.