'Ramayanam' on the news desk !!

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama jayam !!

 

A very happy 'Ramayana Masam' to all devotees of Lord Sri Guruvayoorappan.

 

Fortunate enough to share with you all that ASIANET TV started a daily telecast

of 'Adhyatma Ramayanam' reading by well-known Shri Kavalam Sree Kumar starting

7am to 7:15 am (IST, plz rectify, if wrong). I don't know about other

channels............hence plz update.

Interested devotees can take participation in this pious event.

Even hearing Ramayanam is manifold fruit-bearing as reading it !

 

To add more, a paper cut from THE HINDU newspaper for your happy reading.

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THE HINDU

An epic retold

VALMIKI RAMAYANAM: Retold by C.V. Kunjuraman, Kaumudi Public Relations, New

Kawdiar Gardens, Golf Links, Thiruvananthapuram-695041. Rs. 100.

IN THE foreword to the first edition of Valmiki Ramayanam, published in 1901,

C.V. Kunjuraman wrote: " To know the epics of India well is to know the people of

India well. " This observation explains why he took upon himself the task of

retelling the two great epics of India in simple Malayalam prose a century ago.

" C.V., " who approached the epics from an extra-religious angle, based his work

not on Adhyatma Ramayanam, which had been rendered into Malayalam verse by

Ezhuthachan, who is revered as the father of the language, but on Romesh Chunder

Dutt's summary of Valmiki's Ramayana in English prose. The author of Adhyatma

Ramayanam, he argued, had made special efforts to attribute divinity to Rama and

Sita and promote devotion to Vishnu in the people.

A proflic writer " C.V. " left a legacy of three-dozen works of different kind,

including adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. This work provides eloquent

testimony to his ability as a storyteller.

He tells the story of Rama in 12 chapters. As one who saw the epics' paramount

purpose as promoting moral values rather than providing religious instruction,

he takes from the Valmiki version only those portions that are helpful in this

regard. He has no use for the innumerable side stories packed into it.

The sub-texts appeal to him only to the extent they help reinforce the virtues

of Rama and Sita. Rama's great qualities such as filial piety, devotion to the

people and sense of justice are emphasised. So is the ideal of womanhood

symbolised by Sita.

With the joint family breaking up and urbanisation spreading, the days when the

young Indian learnt of the lives of the epic heroes from the grandmother are

gone for good.

The frivolous comic strips and garish teleserials that now serve as his first

sources of information are not a satisfactory substitute. In this context the

retold epic tales of the author assume altogether new significance.

This publication after a long gap, through the efforts of a member of the late

lamented author's family, is therefore a welcome development. That neither the

commercial publishers nor the state-financed cultural outfits took up the task

is a sad commentary on literate Kerala's current state.

B.R.P. BHASKAR

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REDIFF MAIL (....Last year...)

Ramayana month begins in Kerala

 

July 16, 2004 22:24 IST

 

As Karkitakam, the lean month of the Malayalam calendar, dawned on July 16,

Hindu homes and temples in Kerala resonated with the recital of the Ramayana.

Mornings and evenings, the faithful gather at temples to recite the Adhyatma

Ramayanam Kilippattu of Thunchath Ezhuthachan, the father figure of Malayalam

literature. The entire text is read in 32 days.

As the season neared booksellers reported a heavy demand for copies of the

Ramayana. Malayalis believe reading the epic gives them spiritual strength to

tide over the hardships of the lean season. The term Ramayana maasam, or 'month

of the Ramayana' used to describe Karkitakam, began as informal coinage but

printed Hindu calendars have adopted it for generations.

Traditionally, heavy monsoon rains during Karkitakam, the last month of the

vernacular calendar, interrupted agriculture and forced people to stay indoors.

While the affluent depended on stored harvests, the economically backward labour

class had a hard deal. With work being scarce, incomes dried up. The damp

weather also bred disease.

On the eve of the first day of the month, houses are swept clean, disinfected

and sanitised. Organic rubbish is bundled into an earthen pot and discarded

outside the precincts to the accompaniment of chanting, an act that symbolises

the banishment of ill omens. To fortify homes against ill luck, lamps are lit.

Sree Bhagavati, the goddess of good fortune, is worshipped.

Non-vegetarian food is avoided. Green leafy vegetables are eaten and medicinal

broth is brewed to fortify the body against disease. Ayurvedic medicinal potions

like 'kashayam' and tonics are consumed to build immunity, and hot oil massages

are regularly administered.

People gather in groups and read aloud cantos from the Ramayana. The most

popular one is the Bala Kanda of Ezhuthachan's Adhyatma Ramayanam, which

contains about 2,800 shlokas celebrating Sita's devotion and Hanuman's

selflessness.

Certain days of the month, determined by the lunar calendar, are auspicious to

perform rites for departed forebears at temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Rituals related to the Ramayana month, which had fallen into decadence in the

last few decades, are now experiencing a revival. In view of Karkitakam, the

Travancore Devaswom Board has made arrangements for Ramayana recitals in major

south Kerala temples. In other regions temple authorities and various cultural

forums have organised discourses and debates on the Ramayana.

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Hare Krishna

Hare Rama