Ranganatha Ramayanamu
Sri Ranganatha Ramayanamu is a rendition of Valmiki's Rāmāyaṇa in Telugu language. It was written by the poet Ranganatha—also known as Gona Budda Reddy—between 1300 and 1310 CE. It was composed in 17,290 couplets. This metre is lyrical and can either be recited like the Valmiki Ramayana or sung like the Ramcharitmanas.
Telugu has a very rich literary tradition, starting in the 11th century CE. Although there are more than forty adaptions of the Valmiki Ramayana which are partly or completely in Telugu, only four adaptions have covered the entire theme of the original epic. They are Ranganatha Ramayanam, Bhaskara Ramayanam, Molla Ramayanam, and Ramayana Kalpavruksham.
Structure and Manthara's Antagonism towards Rama.
Although Ranganatha follows the theme of the Valmiki Ramayana, he still made changes in some incidents which effects the course of events. The theme of the Ranganatha Ramayana has been classified under seven cantos.- Bala Kanda : This covers the theme starting from the conversation between Valmiki and Narada to the return of Rama to Ayodhya after his marriage with Sita from Mithila.This canto describes an incident connected with young Rama and Manthara. When Rama was playing with a ball and a stick, suddenly Manthara threw the ball far away from Rama. In anger, Rama struck her on the knee with the stick and her knee was broken. This message was conveyed to king Dasaratha by Kaikeyi. The king decided to send Rama and his other sons to school. This incident makes the king to think about his responsibility of educating his sons, so that they can learn and become wise. Manthara had developed a kind of antagonism towards Rama and was waiting for an opportunity to take revenge against him.
- Ayodhya Kanda
- Aranya Kanda
- Kishkindha Kanda
- Sundara Kanda
- Yudha Kanda
- Uttara Kanda