Living Ramayanas : exploring the plurality of the epic in Wayanad and the world

There is no single Ramayana, just as there is not just one kind of people. The epic that Valmiki first wrote has changed across space and time to reflect the cultural consciousness of a diverse cross-section of humanity. These widely different social contexts—in India, in Southeast Asia and the world at large, and in different faiths and castes and tribes—have produced an immense variety of Ramayanas in the oral, textual and visual mediums. Azeez Tharuvana was powerfully drawn to the oral tribal Ramayana tradition in Wayanad, Kerala. He tells us that the locals believe Wayanad to be the site of all the action that took place in the Ramayana. So, in their version, the hermitage at Ashramkolly near Pulpally is Valmiki’s ashram, and Jadayattakavu is the place where Rama held Sita by the hair to keep her from falling into the earth. Tharuvana’s research into this tradition led to a deeper immersion in the many forms and shapes that the epic poem has taken. It illustrates how human societies reshape narratives as a way of expressing and asserting their unique identities and their moral and social codes. In this light, the Ramayana is not only a religious text, but the very symbol of plurality, replete with interesting divergences. It is an ever-changing work that will never be a thing of the past. The many profound, often entertaining, versions of the epic discussed in this sharp, illuminating work bear testimony to the fact that the Ramayana must not be talked about as a mythological text of yore but as something that is alive, polyphonic and pluralistic. Through the story of Rama, Azeez Tharuvana’s Living Ramayanas shines a light on a text inclusive like no other. TITLE PAGE 4 COPYRIGHT 5 CONTENTS 6 START READING 7 FOREWORD 8 ONE TEXT, MULTIPLE ORAL NARRATIVES 11 PREFACE WHY MULTIPLE RAMAYANAS? 13 PART ONE WAYANAD AND THE RAMAYANA 23 THE ADIYA RAMAYANA 24 THE WAYANAD CHETTI RAMAYANA 36 THE WAYANAD SITAYANAM 44 THE AREAPALLY CHETTIS AND THE MARRIAGE OF LAVA AND KUSA 51 RAMAYANA CHARACTERS AND NATURAL PHENOMENA IN WAYANAD 54 THE RAMAYANA AND TOPONYMIC TALES OF WAYANAD 59 RAMAYANA TALES AND THE HILLS OF WAYANAD 68 RAMAYANA INFLUENCES ON THE WAYANAD COSMOGONIC TALES 74 RAMAYANA CHARACTERS AND THIRUNELLY 92 RAMAYANA TALES IN THE FOLK SONGS OF WAYANAD 96 WHY WAYANAD RAMAYANAS? 108 PART TWO THE POLYPHONY OF THE RAMAYANA 133 FOREIGN RAMAYANAS 134 BUDDHIST AND JAIN RAMAYANAS 149 MUSLIMS AND THE RAMAYANA 159 THE ADIVASIS OF INDIA AND THE RAMAYANA STORY 183 THE MANY VERSIONS AND VARIATIONS OF THE RAMAYANA 199 CONCLUSION 222 NOTES 224 GLOSSARY 236 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 255