In the Mahabharata, Yudhistira hears Ramopakhyana from Rishi Markandeya. The rishi is trying to ease Yudhistira’s pain. Yudhistira wanted to know if any other king had suffered as much as he has. This was during Vanavasa and after Draupadi was rescued from Jayadratha.
Ramopakhyana is a concise version, in just 700 verses. It is more action oriented than the original. It follows Valmiki largely. However Lakshmana, not Rama, kills Kumbhakarna. Also, it ends with Rama’s coronation and the Uttarkanda is completely missing. Some scholars argue that this is proof that Uttarkanda was a later interpolation into Valmiki’s Ramayana. However it starts with Rama’s and Ravana’s lineage. Uttarakanda too narrates Ravana’s lineage.

Picture – Janaki Mata temple at Janakpur, Nepal

Dr Raghavan writes, “Kalidasa’s mind was immersed in Valmiki.” The names of two of Kalidasa’s works, ‘Raghuvamsa’ & ‘Kumarasambhava’ are from Valmiki. Kalidasa describes Rama & Sita’s life in exile in ‘Meghaduta.’ He compares the character of the cloud messenger (Meghaduta) to Hanuman. He retells Ramkatha in cantos 9-15 of ‘Raghuvamsa.’ He also narrates the story of Rama’s ancestors sourced from Puranas.
He calls Valmiki ‘Kavi Karunikah’ (the poet of compassion) – karuna being one of the nine rasas or emotions that art can evoke, as per Natyasastra. ‘Raghuvamsa’ tells the Uttarakanda story as it exists today. Scholars suggest that even if the Uttrakanda is an interpolation, it happened quite early – as both Bhasa & Kalidasa seem to know it.

Picture – Deities at Janaki temple, Janakpur

There are many Ramkathas in poetic form. However, dramas are few. Bhasa & Asvaghosa are probably the first to write Sanskrit dramas, around 1st -2nd cent CE.
Asvaghosa wrote on Buddhist themes. Bhasa wrote 13 plays based on stories from the three ancient epics – Ramayana, Mahabharata & Brhatkatha.
Bhasa is credited with three plays that cover Ramkatha in three parts – ‘Yagyaphala’, ‘Pratimanataka’ ‘Abhisekhanataka.’ The authenticity of last two are debated. Interestingly, Bhasa says that Rama did not build a bridge to Lanka, he just parted the ocean. Bhasa’s drama is evidence of the great antiquity of Ramkatha.

Picture – Fragments of Shiv Danush, fossilised remains at Dhanush Dham, near Janakpur

Maharashtri, a precursor of Marathi, was known for its literary works. It was patronized by ancient dynasties of the Deccan. The Vakataka king Pravarsena wrote Sethubandha (Rama’s bridge), also called Ravanavadha.
Sethubandha has a unique description of Indrajit’s chariot. It was powered by shape shifters who became horses, lions, elephants, clouds & mountains at will. It adds more magic to the reputation of Ravana’s son as a warrior cum magician.
Pravarsena was the son of Prabhavati. She is the first Indian woman to rule independently. She was the daughter of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. She probably also patronized Kalidasa – his Meghaduta was written in Ramtek, which is in Vakataka territory. She is thus associated with two great Ramkatha poets.

Picture – Ram-Sita Vivaah Mandap at Janakpur

Kumaradasa was born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He was the first to write a Sanskrit Mahakavya that dealt with the full Ramayana story. He is compared to Kalidasa in greatness. He very poetically describes an episode during the building of Ramsetu, which is not in Valmiki. The monkey army is randomly throwing boulders onto the sea. Whales swallow these boulders and army’s effort is wasted. This episode is very prominent in SE Asian Ramayanas, dance dramas & sculptures.
Since he named his epic ‘Janakiharana’, a later poet remarked tongue in cheek that only he & Ravana could have attempted the ‘Abduction of Janaki,’ perhaps as a tribute to his origins.

Picture – Enactment of Sita Rama Kalyanam at Vivaah Mandap, Janakpur

Mahakavi Bhatti wrote ‘Ravanavadha’ in 7th century CE. It is a retelling of Valmiki in 22 sargas and just 1629 verses. As a tribute to the poet’s excellence, it is popularly called ‘Bhatti-kavya.’
He uses the Ramayana to illustrate complex rules of Sanskrit grammar in a poetic format. Such instructional books came to be known as ‘sastra-kavya’. Bhatti likely was a native of Vallabhi in Gujarat where a famous ancient university existed.
Source: Ashok Kumar Verma, ‘Bhatti-kavya mein varnit shilp evam chand yojana’ (paper in Hindi), https://ijsrst.com/paper/2940.pdf

Picture – Sri Ram Temple, Janakpur

Abhinanda wrote the mahakavya ‘Ramacarita’ at the Pala court in Eastern India. He was hailed as ‘Gauda Kumbhakara’ (artist of Gaur – a name for Bengal). He claims Sumitra was a ‘Magadhi’ and is from a fallen Kshatriya family, a ‘Karani.’ Since she had a lower status than the other queens of Dashratha, she did not get a part of the ‘caru’ (offering) at the yajna. Kaushalya & Kaikeyi have half of their share to Sumitra. Therefore she got blessed with two sons.
Kalidasa first suggested that she was a Magadhan princess. This story is in some eastern recensions of Valmiki. However it is not in the critical edition.

Picture – Sita is found, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur

Indian kings were expected to be philosophers and warriors both. Many kings like Hala of Satavahanas, Pravarsena of Vakatakas, Harsha of Kannauj, Amoghavarsha of Rashtrakutas, Krishnadeva of Vijayanagara & Guru Gobind Singh are all credited with great works.
Bhoja is credited with multiple books. His ‘Ramayana Champu’ is virtually a ‘Valmiki retold.’ For example, he follows the original in the Ahalya episode. Gautama curses his wife to be invisible. Most retellings turn her into stone. Bhoja wrote only till Sundarkanda. Latter poets wrote the remaining kandas in his style.

Picture – Young Sita effortlessly lifts Shiv Danush, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur

Abhinavagupta is one of the crown jewels of Indian philosophy. He wrote on Vedanta, tantra & aesthetics to create the unique philosophical stream of Kashmiri Saivism. One of his prominent disciples was Kshemendra who wrote four books – ‘manjaris’.
In ‘Ramayanamanjari’, he follows Valmiki but tells the story in 6400 verses, quarter size of Valmiki. He retells Mahabharata in ‘Bharatamanjari’ but the compact Ramkatha (just 48 verses) in it follows Valmiki and not Ramopakhyana of Vyasa.
The ‘Dasavataracharita’ is one of the best works on Vishnu’s ten avatars. The Ramakatha here does not follow either Valmiki or Puranas but Vyasa’s Ramopakhyana. He also retells Brhatkatha and uses Ramkatha to illustrate the pain of separated lovers, naturally focusing on emotions and not action. Thus, he retells Ramkatha in four different ways.

Picture – Rama liberates Ahilya, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur

Bhavabhuti wrote two dramas on Ramakatha in the 8th cent – ‘Mahaviracharita’ covering the first six kandas & ‘Uttararamcharita’ on the Uttarakanda.
Somadeva’s 11th cent poem ‘Kathasaritasagara’ retells Ramkatha as an illustration of what a love story should be. Both follow Valmiki but the ending is different. In Bhavabhuti, Luva Kusha stage a Valmiki written play on their mother’s life which makes Rama feel guilty. Somadeva narrates the story of a bird whose husband accused her of infidelity. She appealed to the gods who created a lake in which only a pure person could bathe. Like the bird, Sita easily passed the test. Then the sages of Valmiki’s ashram want to curse Rama but Sita stops them. After Luva Kusha grew up, the sages persuaded Rama to take Sita back. In both works, Rama hands over the kingdom to his sons and lives happily ever after with Sita.

Picture – Rama and Sita see each other, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur

In ‘Ramcharitmanas’, Tulsi writes, “aguna saguna dui Brahma swarupa” – there are two aspects of God, one qualified, the other unqualified. This follows from ‘Adhyatma Ramayana.’
The book allegorically interprets the story of Ramayana in the Advaita Vedanta framework. It is included in Brahmānda Purana. The book is a founding text of Ramananda’s movement that popularized Rama bhakti in the north. Ramananda greatly influenced both Kabir & Tulsi.

Picture – Rama breaks the Shiv Danush, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur

Ram bhakti stresses on dasya bhakti (surrender) and Hanuman is the ideal bhakta. But in the 15th cent, some communities introduced the idea of madhurya bhakti (divine love) into Rama worship. This was styled on the stories of Radha Krishna and the gopis. But in Rama’s case, the Raas Leela did not involve gopis as Rama is devoted to one woman only. This influence can be seen in the famous musical celebrations of Holi in Kumaon (baithaki & khari Holi). These have songs with Sita and Rama playing Holi. Amitabh Bachchan sang the popular Bollywood song ‘Hori khele Raghuveera Awadh mein’ – Rama plays Holi in Ayodhya.

Picture – Vivaah, Mithila Wall Art, Janakpur