INDIA, February 27, 2017 (Times of India): It’s a tale as old as time but the Ramayana is enjoying a sudden bout of renewed interest with a number of literary, academic and cultural interpretations offering fresh perspective on the epic. “Ramayana: A Shared Culture,” a recently screened documentary film, tries to highlight the epic’s global appeal as a culture sign not just in India but across 10 countries in south Asia and Southeast Asia.
Shot for the ministry of external affairs, the film directed by culture historian and filmmaker Benoy Behl shows the appeal the story of Ramayana has across diverse geographical regions starting from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR to Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Vietnam. “The story of the Ramayana is enacted more often than any other story across the world,” says Behl.
Ramayana’s popularity in south and Southeast Asia could have a strong link with southern India’s maritime relations with countries in the said region. “The Ramayana would have travelled, along with Sanskrit along many routes. The seafaring route would have been the main one reaching Southeast Asia. Here, the great Hindu Kingdom of Champa (which covered most of Vietnam) would have played a major role in the dissemination of the epic. The present-day Tamil Nadu region and the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, were in constant interaction with Southeast Asia. Ramayana could have travelled through these ports too.”