Bookstrapping: Lord Rama and literature

There is no shortage of books about the Ramayana, available in all Indian languages. This week, the Prime Ministerinterestingly brought out a compilation of stamps featuring Lord Rama. To our collective surprise, these stamps are from countries like America, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, Fiji, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Thailand, Guyana and Singapore!

As India reclaims its connection to the iconic, epical Lord Rama this week, it appears that in due course, the new temple in Ayodhya may attract more tourists than the usual suspects! Our column today, touches upon three new books- as different as chalk and cheese- that celebrate Lord Rama.

The Valmiki Ramayana by Srinivas Fine Arts: This is an exclusive signature edition priced at 1,65,000. Designed to be a coffee table book, it is an experience by itself. The book unfolds into a chest of metallic edge drawers made of original Maple Walnut wood, with a reading table on top. The 24000 verses are articulated in 3 gilt-edged volumes in Hindi as well as English and the Sanskrit Shlokas are printed as ‘Pothis’ in 6 small books. Masterfully conceived, original Swarovski crystals embellish the wood as well as over 300 illustrations, bringing the story alive. Tasteful metal bookmarks remind you of the gravitas of the epic.

The Sea of Separation: A Translation from the Ramayana of Tulsidas: Yet to be released, this work of translation by the Philip Lutgendorf, published by Harvard University Press is a work to take Rama to the world. Written in free verse, the base material for this translation is the most popular version of the Ramayana- Tulsidas’s Rāmcaritmānas , written in the sixteenth century in Hindi. The Publisher’s Weekly credits the book with ‘giving readers a fresh glimpse into the tale’s impressive energy.”

Warlord of Ayodhya-Resurrection by Shatrujeet Nath: When India’s favourite epic gets a spin by a fantasy author, one must expect the unexpected. In this second book of the series (the first one was called Rebellion), ignored characters of the Ramayana come alive. For instance, what happens to Bharat’s reign, after Rama’s exile? The righteous, loyal brother who refused to take the title of King in his brother’s absence. What are the setbacks he has to deal with? What about Bharat’s son Taksha?

Any column on books about the Ramayana will be incomplete without a mention of the faithful Ashok Banker, who has arguably been the most prolific chronicler of the Ramayana, much before acclaimed modern writers stepped in and Lord Rama’s temple became a reality. Also, Sanskrit scholar Arshia Sattar deserves a special mention.An expert in Valmiki’s Ramayana her books ‘Maryada - Searching for Dharma in the Ramayana’ and “Uttara - the book of answers’ are through provoking tomes. Here’s a quiz based on this column for readers of Bookstrapping. When did Tulsidas write Ramcharitmanas? Send your responses to @officialreetagupta on Instagram. The most detailed and accurate response will get featured in the next review.

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta