Week 7 Storytelling: The Golden Statue

Rama was thrilled to learn that Sita was still alive, and that he had two young sons who survived his foolish decision.  He could not believe that after ruling his kingdom for over 10,000 years, that this is when the people began to spread rumors about his wife.  But as any other good king, he put his kingdom first, and sent Sita to the forest to let destiny decide whether or not she survived.

In his grief he made a golden statue in his wife's image, and kept in in her living quarters of the palace.  King Rama never had eyes or lust for another woman, for Sita was the only one he was destined to be with.  When Lava and Kusa had sung of his adventures in the Ramayana, he knew that these were his sons, for they were in his likeness.

Rama sent Lakshma to Valmiki's home, and the next day it was arranged that Sita would return to Adyodha and the great festival will end. The crowd had gathered early in the morning, and Rama had Sita's golden statue returned to the kingdom during the night.  The Queen entered the crowd of people, as beautiful as ever, and Rama held his breath in excitement.  Instead of embracing Rama, though, Sita had asked her husband permission to prove her innocence once again.  This was granted, and Sita asked her Mother to take her back to her underground home for good. Before Rama could object, Mother Earth rose to the surface and looked to all of the crowd, her husband (Janka), and her lovely daughter.  Mother Earth had lost patience with Rama and his people, took Sita in to her lap, and they disappeared underground.  All the people of the crowd rejoiced for Sita's innocence, but deep in Rama's heart he was sad that he would not see Sita every again.  He took this as an act of Karma, and brought his sons home when the festival ended.

(Sita's Descent )

When Rama returned to Ayodha, he went to Sita's living quarters to see if her statue was still there. It was, and he had decided to keep it standing there for his sons and his sanity.  Another 1,000 years had  passed, and Time requested that Rama return heaven where all the gods were awaiting his arrival.  Rama agreed and made preparations for this.  He called his ever faithful servant Hanuman and asked him, "My most devoted follower, will you accompany me on my journey to heaven?"  Hanuman was surprised with this request, and it took him a minute to gather his thoughts.  Eventually Hanuman replied, "My King, as delightful as this sounds, I believe that it is my mission in life to remain on Earth as long as there are ears yearning to hear about your great deeds in the Ramayana.  I must make sure that scribes and storytellers only tell the story in 100% truth. Look how after 10,000 years of ruling, the men of your very own kingdom have turned their backs on Sita, although the Ramayana tells of how she remained innocent while in captivity."  Rama realized that Hanuman was right, and was very grateful that he was willing to take this task upon himself.  Rama replied, "Hanuman, for your unbreakable devotion to me and my kingdom, I grant that after my leave you will take possession of the golden statue made in Sita's likeness.  You are the only one that I trust enough to ensure to tell of her braveness, loyalty, and significance in the Ramayana." After this was decided, Rama felt better about leaving his kingdom behind.  The great King departed for his last journey to Sarayu and onto heaven.  Hanuman was there to see him off, and had only happiness in his heart for the King that he loved deeply.

(Hanuman's Heart)

A few days after Rama's depart.  Hanuman created a temple for anyone in any region of the Earth to come and hear about the Ramayana. He created a shrine for Rama and Sita, and in the place of Sita was the golden statue created previously.  Anytime Hanuman would lay eyes on the shrine, or told another about the adventures of the great king, his heart was filled with gladness.

Author's Note:
For this story, I tried telling about the fate of Sita's golden statue after Rama had departed for heaven.  Throughout reading this version of the Ramayana, it bothered me that Rama left her in the forest, even after I read the ending and learned that it was for "the good of the kingdom."  When looking over storytelling prompts, I thought that it was interesting that we do not find out what happens to the statue in the end.  I decided that since Hanuman was such a devotee of Rama, and that he was the one to find Sita in Ravana's garden, he would be the one to receive and care for the statue.  I felt that if anyone else were to be put in charge of it, it would have eventually been neglected.  I also thought about how over time the citizens of Ayodha forgot how courageous Sita was while waiting for Rama to save her, and felt that if someone like Hanuman did not continue to tell the Ramayana in its true form that Sita's name would once again be defamed.

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Week 7 Reading Diary A/B: The end of Buck's Ramayana

I didn't complete the reading diary in time even for the grace period today. I did want to complete both readings though, so I am just going to go ahead and do both in one blog post!

Part A:
To start off the reading, how many times does Ravana need to be told to let Sita go?  He simply just does not get the extent of the trouble he is getting himself into.  Like Sita had mentioned in previous readings, or in Narayan's version, it is almost as if Ravana is wanting Rama to slay him.  

In the next part, I feel sorry for those who live in Lanka since they seem to be the only one's suffering from Ravana's arrogance.  Ravana himself seems like he is just fine and dandy, when she should have taken a step back to realize that there are people out there that truly care for him deeply.  

(Mandodari and Ravana)

Buck is a very talented and creative writer, and this is why his Ramayan is considerably longer than Narayan's.  Ravana's preparation for battle is more elaborate here, for instead of locking himself in his room he performs a dance ritual.  This may be an interesting take on a possible story.

Wow!  Even the final battle considerably different.  There is an actual "face off" on foot, versus in chariots that are flying around the globe.  The illusion of Indra also wasn't mentioned previously.  This is the part of the epic that I am ready to read.  Now that Ravana has passed, what will Rama do when he sees Sita, and why is she still sent to the forest when pregnant?!  We once again see Agni testifying on the behalf of Sita's innocence.  I couldn't imagine seeing all these animals, and creatures alike, traveling with the trio to attend Rama's coronation.

Part B:
Maybe it is just me, but I can say that I do not favor this ending of the Ramayana so much. With Narayan's ending, it was brief and gave the reader a sense of resolution.  Buck's version is "doing to much," in my opinion, but it does provide the reader with a different perspective on what happened with Rama and Sita.

The coronation was just as grand, if not grander, than what was previously described.  I am happy that Mnthra has come back into the story, asks forgiveness, and all seems to be going well at this point in time.  Everyone returns happy, and all is good in the kingdom of Ayodhya.

(Rama's Coronation)

What I do not understand why the people of the kingdom are now talking about Sita's time in Lanka, have they forgotten about her sacrifice in the fire?  Hmm, maybe it's jealousy.  Also, out of all the people why does he send his dear brother Lakshmana, he must love Sita like a real sister and must have created a bond with her during their fourteen years in exile.  Although Sumitra's story provides clarification, and proves that Karma is always watching, but it does not ease my sympathy for Sita.  I think it's a little ridiculous that she must prove herself once again to her husband, then disappears into mother earth.  I am sad that Lakshmana had to also die, I wish he just sent the hermit, Durvasa, into the meeting between Rama and Time himself.  At The End, I wonder if Sita and Rama are reunited as Vinshu and Lakshmi.

Resize and Collage Tech Tip

Someone pointed out, in the nicest way of course, that my Storybook was a little plain. I completely agreed, especially since it was targeted for children, but I am definitely not the most tech savvy person out there. So, I decided to take up their advice and check out the "Tech Tips" to see if I could find anything to improve the background. I can say this was some of the best advice that I have received in a while!  :)

I decided that I wanted to make a collage, and to practice I looked up images of Ganesha on Wikipedia.   Below is the image that I created:

This image was automatically resized when I pulled it into the post, and what I have also found is PicMonkey automatically sizes your created image to 2000 x 2000. I wanted to leave this large (2000 x 2000) image up to let you compare the difference, but it didn't look right when I uploaded this post onto my blog. This image is obviously wayyy to large for my Storybook background, so I resized it to 400 x 400, which you can see below.

If you're curious to what my site looks like now, and haven't been assigned to visit it, you can see it here. 

Week 6 Storytelling: Monkey in a Dragon

Hanuman was feeling good about himself and his travel over the ocean.  He was thinking to himself how future generations would speculate on how a monkey could magically grow in size, and jump across a great sea in order to reach Lanka.  Hanuman had already left Mainaka, a great mountain with golden wings hiding in the sea from Indra, who attempted to return a favor to Vayu (the wind god).  Vayu had protected Mainaka from Indra before, and now he felt compelled to let the great Hanuman rest.  Hanuman was so energetic, fueled by his mission to find Sita, that he did not want to rest and in return granted Mainaka peace from feeling like that he had to repay Vayu in anyway.

Lanka's shores were growing larger and larger, and so did Hanuman's excitement.  Gradually, he began to see a streak of red intermittently flashing in the ocean below him.  At first Hanuman disregarded the unusual site, for he was more focused on reaching the land ahead of him.  All of a sudden a large dragon head popped out of the ocean and tried to grab Hanuman's tale.  If you did not know, a monkey's tale is his pride and joy, and this was enough to delay Hanuman's flight just for a moment.  Hanuman waited for this creature to make another appearance above the water, when the next thing he knew was in it's mouth.

(The top image is one version of Sinhika swallowing Hanuman: Source)

Hanuman shrunk to a minuscule size, injured the creature's heart, and finally escaped through their ear.  Hanuman knew he only had a few moments before the brute's demise, and demanded an explanation for such a rude attack.  The creature spoke, "I am Sinhika, a rakshasi, and I am the protector of Lanka's shores.  You are not a fellow demon, and I have made an attempt to prevent you from reaching your destination."  Hanuman replied," Do you demons lack knowledge of proper battle etiquette?!  You must never attack a warrior that is not already in battle, especially when their back is to you."  Sinhika howled in laughter, and said with her last breath, " Oh honorable monkey you must not know the ways of us rakshasis.  If you continue to use this noble mentality you will not survive in Lanka, for she herself will attempt to approach you as an illusion and kick you down.  With my last breath, since you have defeated me, I will advise you not travel in Lanka in your natural form, but do so as a cat in the night.  No one will look at you twice with suspicious eyes."  With these last words Sinhika died, and the large fish of the sea disposed of her body.

Hanuman continued his route to Lanka, thinking about Sinhika's last words.  He contemplated whether he should follow the advice, or do the exact opposite.  As he neared Lanka's gates he saw how magnificent the city was.  He climbed high into the trees, and hit for a while scouting the outer gates to look for any weak spots.  The closer in proximity that he go to the city, he noticed that her form began to change until all he saw was an old woman sitting in the road.  At this moment Hanuman decided that he would trust in Sinhika's finals words, assumed the form of a cat, and ventured off to approach Lanka in the road.

Author's Note:
 Hanuman's leap to Lanka was pretty uneventful, expect for speaking to Mainaka and his encounter with the female demon.  Although the main focus of this tale was to tell about Hanuman's short battle with Mainaka, I wanted to give the mountain some credit along with a brief background, in order to not confuse my readers.  The image of Hanuman being swallowed in this week's Reading Guide is what inspired me to retell this section of the epic (seen here).  I added more dialogue between the duo, and tried giving Sinhika more significance by having her advise Hanuman what to do while in Lanka.  I ended with Hanuman approaching Lanka in the form of a cat, because I thought this part was very interesting, and gave Sinhika the credit for Hanuman's transformation.

Bibliography:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Week 6 Reading Diary B: The Battle soon Begins

Ah, now we are once again back to the part where Rama curses the ocean, the land bridge is constructed, and we are getting ever closer to the epic battle.  I wonder if Ravana is ever sitting alone and beginning to contemplate giving Sita back to Rama for the sake of his livelihood and Lanka (haha, yeah right).  I don't remember Nala's character from Narayan's edition.  I'm pretty sure the ocean just agrees to withhold the bridge that they wish to construct.  Also, the bridge is made from many pieces of organic matter, not just rocks.  

Again, I think that Ravana should have been wiser and listened to Vibhishana, it would have saved a lot of trouble in the near future.  The part about the spies is an exciting new edition, and this may also be a great story to retell!  Now the magicians are another new part of the story that I also do not recognize.  I know that Ravana attempts to trick Sita into thinking that Rama is dead, but not before the fighting has even began.  I am glad that Sita has Trijata, and hope that nothing bad happens to Trijata in the future.  

(Hanuman and Medicine Hill) 

I cannot believe that in this version Rama and his allies are actually killed by Indrajit!  That is very interesting, and again another good plot to retell, more particularly about Medicine Hill.  There is a lot of tricks and schemes coming from both sides of the battle and most of it is coming from Indrajit.  This sounds terrible, but I am almost relieved whenever Lakshmana finally slays him and Ravan has decided to come out to battle.  

Week 6 Reading Diary A: Hanuman's Journey to Lanka

It's been a while since I've done any reading for this course, and I can say I am very excited to get to the end of Buck's Ramayana. I can already see differences between the writers epics, for this time Hunaman must make a great leap to make it to Lanka, versus growing in size and making a giant strides.  Mainaka and Sinhika are additions to the story that are new to me, and this is very exciting.  Hanuman's journey in Sinhika may be a great story to retell!  

(Hauman and the Sea Demon)

This is so exciting to see that Vayu actually has a role in this part of the tale, given the fact that I have written three separate stories that incorporate him.  Although some of the information can be overwhelming at times, I do enjoy how much more in detail Buck goes, especially the detail of Sita's stay in Lanka while she is waiting for Rama to return.  I'm excited to see what Rama's reactions are when he gets the pearl and message that Sita has sent back with Hanuman.  Now that Hanuman has told Rama that Sita has remained faithful to him, I am wondering how their reunion will be after the war is fought.  

Comment Wall

(Image Source)

I have no clue why, but I love placing memes anywhere permissible when it comes to my blog. :)

Week 5 Storytelling: Ravana's Curse

My dear readers, we have come back with the story of Sita and how she was rudely brought to Lanka under the personal agenda of the demon king, Ravana.  In previous tales, I had introduced Vayu (the wind god who is also Hanuman's father) and have told you about his significance in Sita's survival in Lanka by bringing her food and information until this point in time.

In the beginning, when Ravana first brought her, Vayu put it upon himself to bring Sita whatever she needed behind the seething eyes of her Rakshasis guards.  Vayu is a god, and pretty invincible, but he was also old in age, and needed some help in caring for Rama's bride.  After bringing Sita some dinner one night, he sent a message to the Lord Brahma asking for some assistance.  Vayu's prayers had been heard and Indra was summoned to visit Sita in Ravana's garden.  Indra brought Sleep with him, who cast a deep slumber over the kingdom of Lanka.  Indra thanked Vayu for all he had done, and relayed Sita would not need anymore food subsistence.  He asked Vayu to continue to provide Sita with information about Rama, when needed, and to let her know whether any message from Ravana consisted of the truth.  Although this was relief for him, Vayu still stayed close the maiden until her husband's return.

Indra entered Sita's entrapment in the garden and told her not to fret.  He gave her some blessed food and water, stating that it would keep her satisfied for a years time.  He also reassured her that Ravana would not try to make any advances on her, for he was cursed long ago.  Sita being curious asked what the parameters of the curse were so that she would be able to properly protect herself if and when Ravana would visit her.

Indra began the story of Ravana's curse:

After Ravana's heaven and earthly campaign to conquer was over,  the Demon King decided to settle down to rule in Lanka.  He loved his wife Mandodari very much, but he quickly became greedy and soon set out on a journey to obtain beauty.  Any female creature he found appealing, he took, and progressed on his way killing anyone who objected.  Ravana had the great skill of persuasion, and it was easy for him to manipulate many into becoming another wife.  He was coming near the end of his expedition when he decided that all he needed now was to make an Apasarasa his wife, and his "collection" would be complete.  Ravana set course to mount Kailasa, and waited until someone crossed the path leading down to the nearby village.  It wasn't long until the beautiful Rambha came down from heaven to visit her husband Nalakubra.  Ravana approached her, asked where she was going, and beckoned her to sit next to him in the grass to converse.  Rambha tried to reason with Ravana, "Aren't you the new ruler of heaven, everyone knows so?  If that is true you are my King, elder, and guardian technically."

(An image of Rambha: Source)

 Ravana replied, "You are right, I am the rule of heaven and all!  Because of this, I demand that you learn to love me this very instance."  Rambha knew she wasn't going to be able to steer Ravana desires, and began to weep loudly.  Unbeknownst to the duo, Nalakubra's home was near the path and he had overheard their conversation.  Nalakubra was wise enough not to directly approach Ravana, for he knew he would be eliminated where he stood, and instead climbed to the top of the mountain, which was directly above where the pair was located.  Rambha's husband gathered his wit, and as soon as he witnessed Ravana begin to advance towards his wife he let out a curse heard in all directions. He bellowed, "Ravana you have no sanctity, and from this moment you are cursed to never be able to take from a woman what she is not willing to give you! If you even try, then your ten heads will burst off your shoulders!" Ravana, frightened by Nalakubra's words, left the scene and made his way back to Lanka thinking to himself that he had already obtained enough beauty to keep him entertained.

Sita interjected Indra's story at this point, " If Ravana was not allowed to approach a woman who would not have him, what about the "wives" that he had already taken."  Indra answered, "These women took pity on Ravana at this time, and felt protected by the curse, so they decided to come to Lanka anyway and live the lavish life Ravana had promised.  But do not fret, Sita, your husband will come for you soon after the rainy season. Continue to depend on Vayu to relay the truth of any news that is brought to you about his progress."

Now that their conversation was over, and Sita felt more inspired than ever in seeing Rama again, Indra and Sleep left Lanka.

Author's Note:
For my readers who have not visited my page before, the beginning of my story correlates with stories I had written in Week 2 and Week 3.  I started reading Buck's version of the Ramayana before Narayan's came in the mail, so I had already written Week 4's story a long time ago, and was too lazy to change it and continuing with my Vayu character.  This week I brought him back, and will decide after completing next week's reading, whether or not he will continue to make an appearance.  When I had first read Indra's story of Rambha and Ravana's encounter, I thought it was interesting enough to rewrite it.  As I'm sure most of you were, I was a more than a little mortified that Ravana had raped his nephew's wife (which I discovered after a little Wiki search on Nalakubra).  So in my remake, I have Nalakubra come to Rambha's rescue, all the while still holding true to Ravana's curse and why he cannot just do what he wants with Sita.  If I made the story confusing in the beginning of this retelling, and you felt as if the intro was irrelevant, please let me know!  I am always up for some constructive criticism.

Bibliography:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Week 3: Storybook Styles

Topic: For my project this semester, I would like to make a Storybook about the god Ganesha!  As mentioned in my feedback, we do not hear much about Ganesha until we get to the epic Mahabharata.  Also, as I mentioned in my topics post, I just find him one of the most interesting gods (mainly because he has an elephant head haha).  I would like to include the story of why he has an elephant's head foremost, then I would like to touch on some of his most known attributes such as his appetite/race with his brother, his single tusk, and why the moon changes phases.  What I would cover would depend on how many stories I am able to create before finishing the course.  

Bibliography: 

1. Information on Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten day festival celebrated in many Southeastern Asian countries: Source

2. Much background information on Ganesha and a layout of the many things that he is connected to and represents: Source

3. Mythological anecdotes of Ganesha: Source (I believe this will be my main source)

(Ganesha Scribing for Vyasa: Wikipedia)

Possible Styles:

Festival:  Since Ganesha is loved throughout southern Indian, I would use the introduction to tell about his background and significance (as mentioned before).  I could talk about the different times one would worship Ganesha, and in what circumstance.  There are many Hindu temples, and I could provide a walk through of some of them including pictures.  Finally there is a festival called Ganesh Chaturthi, which I could elaborate on.  It lasts ten days, and I could talk about the rituals, dates, and differences of the festivals in different countries.  

Children's Story: I read a great story between a mother and daughter when researching some of the Storybooks previously made.  I like this idea, but want to do it in such a way that I would not take away the focus away from Ganesha himself.  Since Ganesha's head is replaced when he was young, or at least speculated, I could tell the story to a young boy.  Since my audience is more directed toward a child, I could really simplify Ganesha's stories for my audience.

Journey: This reminds me of the "traveling through India" topic I was thinking about doing.  If I were to use this topic, I could be a traveler flying into India for a semester abroad.  Although I have talked about the festival aspect some, I could almost use some of those same topics, but use the perspective of a modern day college student and their experience as an american who has never been exposed to these kinds of traditions and tales before.  

Television Story:  With this topic, I could almost combine television and children's story by using a theme close to Reading Rainbow.  I got this idea when Aiden (my son) was watching Nick Jr. and they told the story of Rama, Sita, and Ravana (this was even before I knew anything about the Ramayana).  I would start each story as a different "program/episode," and tell a portion of Ganesha's story.  For my introduction, I would introduce myself and give the background on Ganesha and his significance in not just India, but in other parts of Southeast Asia as well.