The Epic Love Story of Rama and Sita

Love is in the air in February, but why? The ancient Romans held a festival in mid-February that celebrated the coming of spring that included fertility rites where men and women were paired off by a lottery system. At the end of the 5th century, however, the Pope banned the pagan tradition and replaced it with a Christian one, known as St. Valentine’s Day. The origin of the holiday was unclear, as there were many Christian martyrs called Valentine throughout history. The most popular legend associated with the feast day is from the mid-14th century when St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. Since then, St. Valentine has been known as the patron saint of love and romance.

Rama and Sita playing in the garden. — The Story of Rama and Sita is beloved in Sri Lanka and across the Indian subcontinent.

Valentine’s Day, though originally a pagan and then a Christian tradition, has become commercialized and is now celebrated everywhere, including in Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka has intriguing love stories within their traditions, too. There’s the story of Sir Thomas Maitland and his lovely Lovinia and the story between Pramila, the Queen Consort, and her lover, Dakson. However, the most epic of all is the story of Rama and Sita, from the book of Ramayana.

Rama, son of King of Ayodhya, was a virtuous prince who won the hands of Sita, the beautiful daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Sadly, Prince Rama was set up by his stepmother, who wanted her son Bharata to take the throne. She convinced her husband, the king, to exile Rama from Ayodhya. Sita followed her husband and together they roamed the forest along with Rama’s loyal brother, Laksmana. While in exile, a powerful sorceress, Shurpanakha, fell in love with Rama. Rama, devoted to his wife Sita, refused her. Humiliated, Shurpanakha tried to kill Sita but fled after Laksmana cut off her nose.

The monkey god Hanuman searched high and low and finally located Sita in Ashoka Vatika.

Shurpanakha’s brother, Ravana, was the King of Lanka who helped his scorned sister by kidnapping Sita. He took the princess back to his kingdom and made her a prisoner in one of his palaces. During her captivity, Ravana became infatuated with Sita’s unparalleled beauty and wished to make her his queen. Ravana kept her in the gorgeous garden of Ashoka Vatika and showered her with riches, but Sita was unmoved. She resisted his advances and refused to submit to him. Meanwhile, Rama desperately searched for his beloved wife and formed an alliance with Hanuman, the monkey god, to locate Sita. Hanuman eventually located Sita in the garden of Ashoka Vatika. Hanuman, gave Sita Rama’s ring to show her that he was indeed sent by her husband. In return, Sita sent Hanuman away with one of her headdresses to bring back to her husband. Overjoyed that Hanuman had found Sita, Rama marched to Lanka. Together with Hanuman and his monkey army, they defeated Ravana.

Sita walked into fire to prove her chastity to Rama.

Upon her rescue, Rama doubted Sita’s chastity and so Sita walked into a fire. When she walked away unscathed, it was a clear indication that she had been faithful. Rama and Sita returned to Ayodhya where Bharata, Rama’s half-brother, awaited for the return of the true king. Rama was crowned as the king with Sita by his side. Although Rama’s trust and affection for Sita never waned, the people of his land questioned the queen’s chastity during her long captivity. With a heavy heart, Rama banished his wife to a nearby forest where she gave birth to a pair of twin sons. She raised them to be virtuous, intelligent, and brave. After they reunited with their father as adults, Sita sought refuge in the arms of Bhumi, the Hindu goddess of Earth. The Earth split open and swallowed Sita.

Though Sita’s ordeal was tragic and her trial and subsequent banishment by Rama despicable, their epic love story remains one of the most beloved in Sri Lanka (and also India). It is one of the staples of dramatic traditions, re-enacted in village theatres, shadow-puppet performances, the annual Ram-lila (Rama-play), TV soap operas, and massive film productions across the Indian subcontinent.