Indian Epics Topics Brainstorming

1. Possible Topic: The prince Rama

The India epic I read is the Ramayana, so Rama must be the very important character in the epic. I think I am going to rearrange the whole storyline of Rama. During his 14 years’ exile, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana overcame many difficulties together.

Research so far:

Rama is the main character of the Ramayana, so it is so easy to find a lot of information about him. All my work will be refine that information and use some of them to create my own storytelling. I think I will be focusing on fights scenes since I like those kind of stories.

2.    Possible Topic: Lakshmana, brother of Rama

Based on the stories I read so far, Lakshmana has a very close relationship with Rama. When he heard about his brother Rama is about to be exiled for fourteen years, he chose to be accompany with Rama during Rama’s exile time. They fight together and get hurt together. Those two brothers always help each other.

Research so far:

It is weird that I could not find much detailed information about the Lakshmana. I personally like this character very much because of his sacrifice to his older brother Rama. What I found is Lakshmana’s birth; he was born to the King Dasharasha and Sumitra, who is the third wife of the King Dasharasha. Lakshmana has a twin brother named Shatrughna, however, Lakshmana has a closer relationship with Rama. He left his wife during the exile of Rama, and he refused to become a crowed prince after Rama’s exile ended. In the following years, Lakshmana decided to spend his rest of his life on penance because he saved all of the Ayodhya from a curse.

3.    Possible Topic: The animal gods

Actually, there are few animal gods in the Ramayana. Bird, monkey, elephant, and some animals else I do not know yet. Those stories can be very attractive because an animal god will have its specific talent. During the exile of Rama, Rama would meet few of them and get helps from them.

Research so far:

The animal gods I found so far are bird, snake, monkey, and elephant. I may have missed some gods, but those minor gods are not important. These four gods are good enough for my storytelling. The monkey king in the Chinese novel Journey to the West is actually the Monkey King Hanuman in the Ramayana. Bird god Garuda and snake god Naga have a really bad relationship because the Bird god eats thousands of snakes very day as food. The Elephant God Ganesh is a funny god. He is very strong but he never fights; conversely, he is participating in conciliation to solve conflicts. Amazingly, his mount is a mouse! I think I may create a story that the elephant king tries to make the bird king and the snake king settled. For Hanuman, I might do storytelling for him with Rama’s exile.

Source

4.    Possible Topic: Yama, the death god

Life is a cycle. I am interested in the death god Yama because I like what Yama does in his position. To my knowledge, Yama is like a director who guides souls to their final rest places. Having the authority to regulate life and death is very cool for me.

Research so far:

In the Rigveda, Yams is the first human who experienced death; because of this, Yama masters the power of death and life. His appearance is fearful; he has a green face, red cloth, a buffalo mount, and a lasso to catch people’s souls. He is the judge of whether a person’s soul can go the heaven or the hell. The judgments are based on the merits in their lifetime.

5.    Possible Topic: Brahma, the god of creation

The mighty Brahma is one of the three great gods, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. His birth is not usual; he was born in a lotus out of the Vishnu’s navel.

Research so far:

The Brahma is like the beginning of the world in the Ramayana. Brahma has four heads, four faces, and four arms. His life is eternal. This is a backup topic if I had trouble on the other four topics.

Vishnu and Lakshmi on Shesha, with Brahma

(illustrated Mahabharata)