ASIA 207
See also: Brahma creates the cosmos 200 ■ The game of dice 202–03 ■ The birth of Ganesha 201The marriages of Prince Rama
and his brothers are depicted in this
miniature (ca. 1700-1750). This Pahari
(meaning “from the mountains”) art is
from India’s Himachal Pradesh region.The worship of Rama
Rama is the seventh incarnation
of Vishnu and a major Hindu deity
in his own right. From the 1st
millennium bce, Rama was widely
recognized as an avatar of Vishnu
and considered “the ideal man.”
By around the 12th century ce,
he came to be revered as a god.
Rama worship strengthened
significantly in the late 16th
century when Tulsidas, a poet-
saint and devotee of Rama, wrote
the epic poem Ramcharitmanas,
which equated Rama with
Brahman, the Supreme Being.Characterized by duty, integrity,
and devotion, Rama’s rule over
the perfect, utopian society at
Ayodhya extended to the whole
world and became known as
ramraj. Mahatma Gandhi used
this ideal to visualize a new
age of democracy, religious
tolerance, and equal justice for
all during India’s independence
movement against British rule,
which finally ended in 1947.
Each year, Rama’s birthday
is marked by the spring festival,
Rama Navami, and his life is
celebrated during the Hindu fall
festival of Navratri.Rama battles the superhuman
Asura (sometimes referred to as
“titans”) on an illustrated Ramayana
folio from about 1700.defeat Ravana. King Dasharatha’s
prayers were granted, and sons
were born to each of his three
wives: Rama to Kausalya; the twins
Lakshmana and Shatrughna to
Sumitra; and Bharata to Kaikeyi.
The princes all grew up learning
the arts of warfare and reading
sacred texts. One day, the sage
Vishvamitra came seeking help
to defeat the demons that were
disturbing sacrificial rites in the
forest. Rama and his half-brother
Lakshmana accompanied the sage,
and learned how to use divine
weaponry. Vishvamitra praised
Rama’s skill, telling him he had
been born to rid the world of evil.The prince is banished
Twelve years later, the aging
Dasharatha prepared to have
Rama crowned as king. Rama was
the bravest and most virtuous son,and his father’s favorite. But
on the eve of the great event,
Dasharatha’s third wife, Kaikeyi,
reminded her husband of two boons
he had granted her many years
earlier. She demanded that Rama
be banished to the wilderness for
14 years and that her son, Bharata,
be crowned king instead. Duty
bound, the king ordered his belovedson Rama into the wilderness.
Rama’s wife, Sita, demanded to join
her husband in banishment,
as did his loyal half-brother
Lakshmana. As the three left the
palace for exile, King Dasharatha
died of a broken heart.
Bharata discovered his mother’s
plot and followed Rama into the
forest, begging him to return and ❯❯US_204-209_Avatars_of_Vishnu.indd 207 06/12/17 3:01 pm