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Lord Rama |
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Story of Rama Rama was the son of Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya. He belonged to solar dynasty and born after many years of childlessness. Since his mother Kaushalya was the chief queen, he automatically became crown prince. That did not prevent him from deeply loving his half brothers, the twins Laxmana and Shatrughana, born to queen Sumitra, and Bharatha, born to his father's favorite queen, Kaikeyi. The family guru, Vashistha, one of the most important rishis in mythical India, taught them the science of arms. When he was sixteen, the great Vishwamitra came
calling. The sage had been trying to perform some fire sacrifices for a long time, but
vicious demons were perpetually putting out the fires with aerial attacks. Not willing to
waste the power of his austerities on cursing such scum, he comes to ask for Rama and
Laxmana to defend his sacrifice. The two boys were eager to go, as Vishwamitra was an
unusually inspiring sort of personality. He teaches them the celestial weapons and makes
them invincible. They massacred the demon hordes and killed their chief female demon
Tadaka and her son Subahu. The other son Maricha was send flying a few leagues away with
the impact of a blunt arrow. So great was the shock that he was defeated, and Maricha
turned over a new leaf and begins a life of meditation! They stayed at different places in the forest and finally made a small hut in Panchavati in the Dandakavana. In the meantime Shurpanakha came there to create troubles for them but Laxmana clipped off her ears and the nose. She complained to her brother Ravana. Ravana of Lanka came in disguise to the forest where Rama and Sita lived and kidnapped her to Lanka. Rama and Laxmana started the search for Sita in the deep forest. On their way they encountered with Jatayu, the vulture king, who said, "Yes, I've seen her being kidnapped by Ravana, the king of Lanka. I tried to stop him but he cut off my wings and escaped in the south." Moving towards the south, they arrived at Mount Rushyamuka. Here they met the monkey-king Sugriva. Sugriva offered them his help and Hanuman soon became a devotee of Rama. Sugriva's elder brother Vali was the king of Kishkindha. He had abducted Sugriva's wife and deported him. Rama-Laxmana helped Sugriva to defeat Vali and when Vali was killed, they made Sugriva the King of Kishkindha. Vali's son Angada was made Sugriva's chief counselor to bring a reconciliation in the family. Sugriva joined Rama in the search of Sita with Hanuman and Angada as his lieutenants. Hanuman crossed the ocean and visited Lanka. Giving Rama's ring to Sita he informed her, 'Rama will arrive here soon and set you free after defeating Ravana.' Knowing that Sita was in Lanka all preparations were quickly made for the war with Lanka. A bridge was required to be constructed over the ocean to invade Lanka. The monkeys of Sugriva began the work quickly. The bridge was ready and the troops of Rama arrived on the outskirts of Lanka. All the efforts for reconciliation failed. Ravana chose to fight out. First he sent his generals to fight. When they were all killed he sent his own sons in the battlefield. Indrajit exhibited great valour in the battlefield by attacking Laxmana bravely and making him swoon. Indrajit also was killed at last. Ravana, then, sent his mighty brother Kumbhakarna to fight against Rama. But he was also killed in the battle. Now Ravana himself came to battlefield in his chariot. He used deadly weapons against Rama and Laxmana but none of them could hurt them because they had truth and justice on their side. At last he was killed and Rama and Sita were reunited.
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There is a gsb temple of Rama in Kerala at Tripunithura |