Ravanayan
Encyclopedia
Ravanayan is a ten-part comic series based on the Hindu epic
Ramayana
released by Holy Cow Entertainment in July 2011
with Ravana
as the chief protagonist. Its creators are Mumbai
-based artist Vivek Goel and Delhi
-based writer Vijayendra Mohanty.
, the antagonist of Ramayana.
, Ravanayan departs from Ramayana in other ways. The creators of Ravanayan address Ravana with the honorific of 'Lord' because, as they reason out, his kingdom had flourished under his able rule. Physical appearance of most characters has also been re-imagined. Ravana has been depicted as "handsome young man with flowing locks of white hair ... He is also clean-shaven, without the clichéd ugly moustache". Most prominently, Ravana, as is the case with popular depictions, has not been shown with ten heads, but instead the ten qualities that each of the heads stood for have been elaborated. Again in contrast with the original Ramayana, creators have focused less on characters related to Rama and more on those related to Ravana. They have made an attempt in the second chapter to explain how a small incident gave glimpses of future personality of the three brothers - Kumbhakarna
, Vibhishana
and Ravana.
's original Ramayana, and apart from that Arshia Sattar
, Devdutt Pattanaik
, Penguin Books' Guide to Ramayana. The creators have also used their imagination to re-interpret the characters.
Indian epic poetry
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya . The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of...
Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
released by Holy Cow Entertainment in July 2011
July 2011
July 2011 was the seventh month of the current year. It began on a Friday and ended after 31 days on a Sunday.- Portal:Current events :This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from July 2011....
with Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
as the chief protagonist. Its creators are Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
-based artist Vivek Goel and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
-based writer Vijayendra Mohanty.
Overview
Ravanayan will be divided into twelve chapters spread over ten issues. It is an imaginative take on the life of RavanaRavana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
, the antagonist of Ramayana.
Contrasts from Ramayana
Apart from Ravana being the chief protagonist instead of RamaRama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Ravanayan departs from Ramayana in other ways. The creators of Ravanayan address Ravana with the honorific of 'Lord' because, as they reason out, his kingdom had flourished under his able rule. Physical appearance of most characters has also been re-imagined. Ravana has been depicted as "handsome young man with flowing locks of white hair ... He is also clean-shaven, without the clichéd ugly moustache". Most prominently, Ravana, as is the case with popular depictions, has not been shown with ten heads, but instead the ten qualities that each of the heads stood for have been elaborated. Again in contrast with the original Ramayana, creators have focused less on characters related to Rama and more on those related to Ravana. They have made an attempt in the second chapter to explain how a small incident gave glimpses of future personality of the three brothers - Kumbhakarna
Kumbhakarna
Kumbhakarna , is a rakshasa and brother of Ravana in the Indian Ramayana epic...
, Vibhishana
Vibhishana
Vibhishana or Bibhishan is a character in the epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the demon Ravana. Though a half-demon himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Rama in an orderly fashion...
and Ravana.
Research for the project
The creators had consulted ValmikiValmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
's original Ramayana, and apart from that Arshia Sattar
Arshia Sattar
Arshia Sattar is an Indian translator, facilitator, author, and director. Arshia Sattar obtained her PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago in 1990. Her abridged translations of the epic Sanskrit texts, Kathasaritsagara and Valmiki's Ramayana have both been...
, Devdutt Pattanaik
Devdutt Pattanaik
Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik is an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist and author whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, mythology, and also management...
, Penguin Books' Guide to Ramayana. The creators have also used their imagination to re-interpret the characters.
External links
- http://www.flipkart.com/books/5111110362Ravanayan on FlipkartFlipkartFlipkart is an Indian online shopping company headquartered in Bangalore, India,which was established in 2007. It is among India’s largest online retail businesses.-History:...
] - Ravanayan at the official home page of Holy Cow Entertainment
- Introducing Project Ravanayan - on Vijayendra Mohanti's personal blog