Giradhara Ramayana

by Shanti Lal Nagar

The Ramayana or the story of Rama, has been dominating the Indian religious scene from the time immemorial. Before composition of the work of poetic excellence by the sage Valmiki, who is considered to be the pioneer of the same, the story was available in fragments in different parts of the country. Though the sage Valmiki was inspired by the sage Narada for composing the Ramayana but Valmiki had to collect several fragments of the story from various regions of the country.

Once the story was composed in poetic form, there was a great boost in the popularity of the theme and soon there arose the urge with the people to listen or to recite the Ramayanas in the languages they spoke. As a result of this, several Ramayana in the regional languages were brought out from time to time in the past particularly in the medieval period. The Giradhara Ramayana in Gujarati comes under such types of works, which was composed by Giradhara, a great son of soil, in Gujarati language. The most astonishing aspect of this work has been that it provides occasionally the study of the selected events as discussed in other works, which highlights its unique nature. The English version of the text now produced, will surely interest the readers in country and abroad.

About the Author:

Smt. Tripta Nagar is B.Sc. (Home Science), B.Ed., with P.G. Diploma in Dietetics P.H. and Nutrition, and is in the teaching profession for the last over fifteen years.

About the Translator:

Shri Shanti Lal Nagar a graduate of the Punjab University, served in a curatorial capacity in the Central Asian Antiquities Museum, New Delhi, Archaeological section of the Indian Museum, Kolkata and the Nalanda Museum for a number of years. He has to his credit the scientific documentation of over fifty thousand antiquities in these museums. He was awarded a fellowship in 1987, by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi for his monograph, The Temples of Himachal Pradesh. Hhas already published over forty works on ancient Indian art, culture and lliterature, while over twenty more are in the press.