THE STORY OF RAM, SITA AND DIWALI CELEBRATIONS

(reading time two minutes)

The story in Ramayan begins with Ram’s birth to King Dasharath and his queen Kaushalya. Ram spent his childhood in the company of his three brothers, who were born to other queens of the king. He reached adulthood when he was married to Sita. She was the adopted daughter of a neighboring king who found her in a plowed furrow, signifying that her birth occurred directly from Mother Earth.

Just before Lord Ram’s coronation to the throne after his aging father, King Dasharath, who decided to retire, Ram’s stepmother Kaikeyi reminded the king of his promise to accept her two boons whenever she would ask for them.

The covert scheme was to install her son Bharat as king and ask Ram to be far away from the kingdom city. Consequently, Ram was to live in jungles for 14 years, and upon completing this ordeal, he be the king.

As a devout son, he honoured the orders from his father and proceeded to the forests with his ever-devoted wife and faithful younger brother, Lakshman.

The latter did not take along his wife, Urmila, despite her pleas that Sita, her elder sister, was accompanying Ram.

As the exile period folded, and upon their return, Ram was coronated to the throne. His rule of justice, peace and equality is considered a perfect regime known as Ram-Rajya.

After the eventful years, the return from exile, big celebrations and fireworks marked the occasion.

The Hindu major festival of Diwali, celebrated to this day, symbolizes those festivities signifying the victory of forces of light over darkness or good over evil.

One of the high points of the Ramayan story, during the exile period, is the abduction of Sita by “demon” king Ravan, who wanted to marry her because of her exquisite beauty.

A subsequent war followed to get her released and replace Ravan’s evil regime with a righteous rule. All this happened with the dedicated support of Hanuman, an ardent devotee of Ram but himself an incarnation of Trinity partner Lord Shiv in the form of a monkey. With his skillful and agile army of monkey soldiers, Hanuman played a crucial role in Ram’s mission to fight evil and achieve victory.

The trio, Ram, Sita and Lakshman’s adventures during their 14 years in exile are, in essence, a fight between righteousness and immorality.

In the happy ending of the Ramayan story, an episode of contention is the Ram’s doubts about Sita’s chastity during her time spent under Ravan’s custody.

For that, upon Ram’s instruction, she had to undergo an ‘Agni Pariksha,’ which involved plunging into the flames of some sacrificial fire and coming out of it unharmed.

Inevitably, Sita obeyed Ram’s authoritative command and cleared the test of her purity. But that was not the end of her celibate distrust. Even the people of Ram’s kingdom were in dubiety about her virtue.

This segment of the Ramayan is the topic of questioning under women’s freedom of rights and dignity about Ram’s ‘Sat-Purusa,’ meaning ideal man status.

Ram’s and Lakshman’s personalities are derailed from the merits of being perfect husbands toward their wives.

Nevertheless, Ramayan is, in its bottom line, a volume of celebrations. It is a celebration of good over evil and forces of light over darkness. It is a celebration of family members’ and friends’ relationships, support, and sacrifice. It is a celebration of facing obstacles with vigour and strength. It is a celebration of the rule of law, peace, and prosperity.

And that, as a whole, is an aspect of Hinduism highlighting that life is a celebration too.

(Excerpts from Chapter 8 of my book Hinduism Beyond Rituals, Customs And Traditions.)