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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
Thai Ramayana: The earliest version of Ramakien dates back to 13 th century and Thais believe their version to be the original story. In Ramakien many places in Thailand have been identified with Ramayana episodes. The city of Ayutthaya i.e. Ayodhya has been mentioned as capital of the kingdom. Ramakien vividly describes the marriage of Hanuman. According to Thais, Hanuman had many affairs and children.
Jain Ramayana: According to historian D.N.Jha in Jain Ramayana it is Luxman who kills Ravana. Neither Ram, Luxman nor Hanuman is monogamous. Luxman has 16,000 wives while half that number Ram has, says D.N.Jha. "In Buddhist Ramayana Rama and Sita are siblings who later got married while in Jain Ramayana Rama has 8000 wives. Historian D.N.Jha links the monogamous Rama to the patriarchal society, a symptom of which is also Sita's agnipariksha."
Cambodian Ramayana: Cambodian version "The Reamkher" states Ram as incarnation of Vishnu. Akaingameso which means God's doorkeeper was reborn as Ravana. Sita, in her earlier birth was the wife of Indra, who was insulted by Ravana. To avenge the wrong she was born as Ravana's daughter. Ravana was cautioned by his astrologer and brother Bibhek about his daughter's evil birth. Ravana put her in a chest and buried her. King Janaka later discovered her. The Reamkher follows Valmiki episodes on Ram's friendship with monkey chiefs and construction of the bridge. There is one important deviation. Sita gave birth to a son named Ramalaksha parented by Valmiki.One day she went to the river for a bath with her son when the sage was in deep meditation. After meditation Vamiki could not see his son, hence created another son by his yogic power and named him Jupalaksha.
Asian Tribune -
Search Ram first before reaching Ram's bridge
Thu, 2007-05-10 02:10 Nandhi Varman - General Secretary Dravida Peravai
To find a historical relevance to the story we need to look into the Sri Lankan history. (SRI LANKA - HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE http://members.tripod.com/~hettiarachchi/history.htm) Historically the island is known as sinhaladipa (unity of the island with the Sinhalese), 'Sinhale' or "Heladiva' and dhammadipa (island of Buddhism).
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