The Ramayana was composed over 2500 years ago by the author/sage Valmiki. Imagine my surprise when the professor of my Hinduism class announced that we would be reading the epic tale Ramayana and proceeded to distribute comic books to the students. In the Hindu tradition, the actual story itself is what is sacred, not the form it is presented in. The comic book version of the Ramayana is actually one of the versions that Indians are most familiar with.

The story follows the life of the young prince Rama, who was banished from the kingdom on the day of what was supposed to be his coronation. He leaves to live in the forest with his wife and an extremely devoted younger brother. While in the forest, his wife Sita is kidnapped by the Demon King. Of course, Rama must save her and makes war upon the demons, aided by the monkey people and the monkey Hanuman of divine ancestry.

Experiments in Reading ( )