Week 12 Reading A: Sita's Ramayana Comic Book

the forest wonders why she is there
says she is the daughter of the earth, princess of Mithila, and the last queen of Ayodhya
asks the forest to let her live there because the world of man has banished her
then the forest asks her to tell the story of how she came to be there and the story begins

the story is told in Sita's voice
Sita tells how her husband, Rama, and his brother Lakshmana were exiled from their kingdom and she came with them to live in the Chitrakuta Forest

Sita enjoyed the peacefulness of forest life but Rama and Lakshmana were restless because they were meant for a life of palaces, war, chariots, and weapons

One day Surpanaka, the princess of Lanka and a demoness, came in the form of a beautiful woman and desired Lakshmana

Lakshmana was on guard and saw through her disguise and cut off her nose with his sword, spurred on by his brother Rama
she was very angry and fled back to Lanka
she convinced her brother Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, and her uncle Maricha, an enchanter, to go back to the forest and kill Rama and Lakshmana, as well as kidnap Sita

Maricha transformed into a beautiful deer with golden hide
Sita desired to have the deer to play with
Rama itched to shoot the animal with his bow but Sita persuaded him to catch the deer for her
Rama instructed Lakshmana to stay and watch over Sita
Rama chased after the deer deep into the forest but every time he got close the deer would rush away
finally, Rama shot the deer with his bow, mortally wounding it
as the deer lay dying it transformed back into Maricha and called out to Sita in Rama's voice
Sita heard the call and was worried about her husband so she convinced his brother to go find him
Lakshmana didn't want to leave her since he had been tasked with protecting her while his brother was gone, but Sita pleaded and screamed

Lakshmana finally conceded but told Sita to lock the doors and then drew a circle on the ground around the hut, telling Sita to stay inside the circle while he was gone

when Lakshmana left Sita heard beautiful music being played by who she thought was a wandering minstrel
she had not heard music for a long time since they had been in exile
overcome by the tune she left the circle Lakshmana had drawn

he seized Sita and pulled her away as his chariot and horses appeared
He said that he had only wanted to avenge his sister but had fallen in love with Sita when he saw her
demanded that Sita marry him
Sita said she already had a husband whom she loved very much and who would come for her
While they were flying out of the forest on Ravana's chariot, Jatayu, king of the birds seized the chariot in his giant beak trying to save Sita
Ravana cut off the bird's wings with his sword causing him to fall to the earth

Ravana imprisoned Sita in a garden hoping that time would convince her to marry him
she was guarded by Rakshasas and Rakshasis
one of the Rakshasis, Trijatha, was "different" and compassionate

One day Sita saw a curious creature, a monkey, in a mango tree in the garden where she was imprisoned

the Rakshasas that were watching her fell asleep
the monkey tells Sita not to scream as he got closer
tells her Rama sent him
he is Hanuman
tells Sita that the bird king, as he was dying, told Rama where Sita had been taken
Rama sent Hanuman to Sita

Storytelling Notes: I liked that Rakshasas and Rakshasis were included because I've written a story including them before. I think I may play with that idea again.
Bibliography: Sita's Ramayana by Samhita Arni & Moyna Chitrakar (2011). Print.

(Handy Character Illustrations in the front of the book by Moyna Chitrakar, Photos taken by me)

Indian Epics