ramayan

He marks a 'Lakshmana Rekha' or safety-line outside their hut and pleads her not to step out of it. No one could harm her inside it.As Lakshmana leaves to find Rama, Ravana comes pretending to be a sage and asks for alms. He coaxes her to come out of the 'Lakshman Rekha'. Sita not wanting to displease the sage steps out of the safety line and gets abducted by Ravana.

On way to Lanka, 'Jatayu' the king of vultures tries to rescue Sita but Ravana fights him and leaves him almost dead.Lakshmana finds Rama well and when they return they realize that Sita has been abducted. As they go in search of her they meet Jatayu who tells them that Ravana has abducted Sita and has taken her to Lanka. Jatayu dies.

While moving further in the forest they meet Sugreeva- the monkey king and Hanuman-the biggest disciple of Rama. Sugreeva was dethroned by his own wicked brother Bali. Rama defeats Bali and Sugreeva gets his kingdom back. He promises to fight Ravana along with his army and Hanuman.

Hanuman now goes in search of Sita and finds her in a vatika or garden surrounded by demonesses. He comes to meet her and gives her a ring given by Rama. Sita believes him and knows she would be rescued now.Hanuman eats the fruits of the vatika and as the caretakers try to catch him, destroys the vatika. When he is taken to Ravana he orders to burn his tail. Hanuman with his power burns the entire Lanka flying from one place to another.

The army of monkeys and Bear Jamvant along with the commander Hanuman, Rama and Lakshmana move towards Lanka. Hanuman and his army make a bridge of stones on the sea to reach Lanka.

Rama and Lakshmana now prepare to attack Ravana as Hanuman confirms the presence of Sita there. A major fight breaks between the Monkey army of Rama and the demon army of Ravana. Many of Ravana's brothers get killed but Lakshmana also gets hurt. Hanuman flies to get the 'Sanjeevni' medicine and when he fails to find it, carries the entire mountain on which it grew. Lakshmana gets well and along with Rama fights back.

Ravana's brother Vibheeshana helps Ram to victory over Ravana. Ram and Sita are reunited. Sita passes the test of fire or the 'agni pareeksha' to prove her chastity and purity. They prepare to go back to Ayodhya as the period of exile is over. The kingdom of Lanka is given to Vibheeshana by Rama.

As they come back to Ayodhya, the people of Ayodhya celebrate their return by lighting lamps and festivities begin. Even today Hindus celebrate the festival of Diwali by lighting lamps to mark the day. Rama is crowned the king of Ayodhya.

Rama once overhears a washerman saying that had he been Rama, he won't have accepted Sita back after staying at a stranger's home and it saddens him. Putting 'dharma' or duty towards his people above all, Rama couldn't keep even one of his men unhappy. So he abandons his pregnant wife Sita to the forest where she gives birth to their sons Lov and Kush in Valmiki's Ashram.

Having ruled for years, Rama now performs ' Ashwamedha Yagya' to prove his superiority over others and vows to fight anyone who stops the horse of the Yagya set free to wander anywhere. The horse reaches the forest and Lov and Kush capture the horse not knowing that they would be challenging their own father for a battle by this act.