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The Illustrated Ramayana: The Timeless Epic of Duty, Love, and Redemption
Discover the Ramayana —one of India’s most celebrated epics, and a story that transcends time itself.
The tale of Rama, the exiled prince of Ayodhya who battles the evil Ravana, the king of Lanka, and rescues his abducted wife, Sita, is about much more than the eternal battle of good versus evil. It is a tale of love, friendship, loyalty, devotion, righteousness, and deliverance. Ramayana and Rama, whose journey is told in the epic, are embedded in India’s cultural consciousness, but they transcend borders. Various versions of the Ramayana can be found across the Indian subcontinent and in parts of southeast Asia.
Created in consultation with distinguished economist, scholar, and translator Dr. Bibek Debroy, The Illustrated Ramayana draws from one of its earliest composers, the celebrated sage and poet Valmiki. It uses a combination of text and stunning images drawn from a variety of sources—historic and contemporary artifacts, paintings, photographs, and performances—to tell Rama’s story as he walks the path that destiny creates for him.
The tale of Rama, the exiled prince of Ayodhya who battles the evil Ravana, the king of Lanka, and rescues his abducted wife, Sita, is about much more than the eternal battle of good versus evil. It is a tale of love, friendship, loyalty, devotion, righteousness, and deliverance. Ramayana and Rama, whose journey is told in the epic, are embedded in India’s cultural consciousness, but they transcend borders. Various versions of the Ramayana can be found across the Indian subcontinent and in parts of southeast Asia.
Created in consultation with distinguished economist, scholar, and translator Dr. Bibek Debroy, The Illustrated Ramayana draws from one of its earliest composers, the celebrated sage and poet Valmiki. It uses a combination of text and stunning images drawn from a variety of sources—historic and contemporary artifacts, paintings, photographs, and performances—to tell Rama’s story as he walks the path that destiny creates for him.
392 pages, Hardcover
Published November 30, 2021
13 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
D.K. Publishing
9,123 books2,072 followersDorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 18, 2023
Ramayana is an epic from India which narrates the life of Rama, who was a prince of Ayodhya city.
There are many versions of Ramayana. There are even Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain versions. We can also see multiple adaptations of it like the Thai, Burmese, Reamker (Cambodian), and many more. In India itself, there are various versions of it like the Valmiki Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana, Yogavasishta Ramayana, and many others, as mentioned in this book. There are a few differences in these Ramayanas. I have read a few versions of these, and I think we can’t say which Ramayana is the true one as every version is unique in its own way.
If someone asks me which is the most influential version of the Ramayana, my answer will be Valmiki Ramayana. This illustrated book is based on Valmiki Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana was originally written in Sanskrit. It comprises seven parts called Kandas or chapters. These are
1) Bala Kanda (childhood) - Tells us the story of Rama’s birth, early battles and marriage.
2) Ayodhya Kanda (after the city of Ayodhya) - Rama’s exile
3) Aranya Kanda (forest) - Years of exile outpost the abduction of Rama’s wife.
4) Kishkindha Kanda (after the Vanara realm, Kishkindha) - Rama meets a key ally, Sugriva, and helps him regain his kingdom.
5) Sundara Kanda (beautiful) - Sugriva’s adviser, Hanuman, who later becomes Rama’s follower, brings news of Sita.
6) Yuddha Kanda (war) - The Great War between Rama and Ravana.
7) Uttara Kanda (concluding or latter) - Events that take place after Rama’s consecration as King.
Each chapter is again subdivided into sections or sargas.
The ideal time to read Ramayana is Ramayana Masam which is Karkidakam (according to the Malayalam calendar). It corresponds to the months of July and August in the Gregorian calendar.
If you genuinely want to understand Ramayana, I request you to read Valmiki Ramayana or any other accepted versions. This book will be an ideal one for those who are not familiar with and are new to the world of Indian epics. The pictures given in this book are all spectacular, like the similar illustrated book about Mahabharata by the same publisher. If you are someone who loves reading epics, this book will be a great addition to your personal library.
July 26, 2024
This is more of an encyclopaedia of all elements of the story of Rama and Sita. I love the paintings, sculptures and performances of the Ramayana from all around the world that are included in the book. Even though I hate the story, it shows the Asian appeal to this ancient tale.
August 20, 2025
I loved this book! The authors do a wonderful job illustrating the story as well as the context it sits in. I really appreciated how they drew from different versions of the Ramayana as each had different interpretations or events so it was interesting to compare and contrast them. The illustrations were wonderful and follow a wide array of mediums from statues to costumes and paintings. I did wish that they included a page tracing the lineage of at least the main characters as it was a bit hard to track but if the authors reference anything within the text they leave a page number to refer to. There is also a glossary at the end that explains key concepts! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Hinduism and Indian culture as a whole.
July 5, 2023
Incredible
I love the images and illustrations. The book felt as an encyclopedia but still managed to delve into the spiritual essence of The Ramayana. I loved that it felt like an objective investigation of the events depicted in the book while keeping the faithful language.
I love the images and illustrations. The book felt as an encyclopedia but still managed to delve into the spiritual essence of The Ramayana. I loved that it felt like an objective investigation of the events depicted in the book while keeping the faithful language.
February 18, 2024
This book is a commentary on "Ramayana", the most famous epic of ancient India, written by DK, which is famous for his encyclopedia, using illustrations and images.
The Ramayana was written in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki around the 3rd century, and is a holy book of Hinduism.
"The Ramayana" (7 volumes, 48,000 lines in total) and "The Mahabharata" (18 volumes, approximately 100,000 verses) are two of India's greatest epics.
I heard from a teacher of early Buddhism that monks in early Buddhism were traditionally prohibited from reading the Indian stories “Ramayana'' and “Mahabharata.''
This is because Hindu culture transforms these stories into content such as dramas and picture books, and spreads the beliefs and myths of various goddesses such as Vishnu and Shiva.
Hinduism is a religion that forms the basis of national culture, but after the 16th century, Islam spread to India, giving rise to Sikhism, which was influenced by both Hinduism and Islam.
I have not yet read the Indian story "Ramayana", and this time I read this DK commentary first, but my honest impression is that it is just a MYTH, and that it is a heroic story of hardship.
This is certainly a religious scripture, but to me it was nothing more than a myth, and I couldn't find any particularly moving elements or passages that taught me life lessons.
The main character, Rama, was born as the eldest son of Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, the capital of the Kosala kingdom.
He marries King Janaka's daughter Sita, but his wife is kidnapped by the demon king Ravana.
The story is about Rama working with the monkey hero Hanuman and others to fight against the demon king Ravana and retrieve his kidnapped wife Sita.
Rama is the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu and is widely worshiped from India to Southeast Asia.
The Ramayana was written in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki around the 3rd century, and is a holy book of Hinduism.
"The Ramayana" (7 volumes, 48,000 lines in total) and "The Mahabharata" (18 volumes, approximately 100,000 verses) are two of India's greatest epics.
I heard from a teacher of early Buddhism that monks in early Buddhism were traditionally prohibited from reading the Indian stories “Ramayana'' and “Mahabharata.''
This is because Hindu culture transforms these stories into content such as dramas and picture books, and spreads the beliefs and myths of various goddesses such as Vishnu and Shiva.
Hinduism is a religion that forms the basis of national culture, but after the 16th century, Islam spread to India, giving rise to Sikhism, which was influenced by both Hinduism and Islam.
I have not yet read the Indian story "Ramayana", and this time I read this DK commentary first, but my honest impression is that it is just a MYTH, and that it is a heroic story of hardship.
This is certainly a religious scripture, but to me it was nothing more than a myth, and I couldn't find any particularly moving elements or passages that taught me life lessons.
The main character, Rama, was born as the eldest son of Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, the capital of the Kosala kingdom.
He marries King Janaka's daughter Sita, but his wife is kidnapped by the demon king Ravana.
The story is about Rama working with the monkey hero Hanuman and others to fight against the demon king Ravana and retrieve his kidnapped wife Sita.
Rama is the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu and is widely worshiped from India to Southeast Asia.
December 18, 2024
Do you like the Odyssey? Well, here is another one. Or maybe the Odyssey is another Ramayana.
This is not the poetic version. But I believe that this must be the best introductory version for an English-speaking so-called Westerner. before I read this, all I knew about the Ramayana was in the exciting notes and rhythms of the Ketcak "monkey chant" from Bali.
The Ramayana is the odyssey of Rama, known as the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu - Krishna is the eighth incarnation-I'm reading the Gita next to see what he has to say.
What is outstanding about this large, heavy book is that the general story is presented very clearly, and each of the two opposing page presentations has beautiful reproductions of amazing art that was inspired by each scene. Not all from India. some from Thailand, Indonesia, and even Spain.
This is not the poetic version. But I believe that this must be the best introductory version for an English-speaking so-called Westerner. before I read this, all I knew about the Ramayana was in the exciting notes and rhythms of the Ketcak "monkey chant" from Bali.
The Ramayana is the odyssey of Rama, known as the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu - Krishna is the eighth incarnation-I'm reading the Gita next to see what he has to say.
What is outstanding about this large, heavy book is that the general story is presented very clearly, and each of the two opposing page presentations has beautiful reproductions of amazing art that was inspired by each scene. Not all from India. some from Thailand, Indonesia, and even Spain.
February 27, 2023
Fabulous resource for any reader interested in Hindu mythology, religion and culture. As usual DK does a wonderful job including illustrations from art, architecture, archaelogical sites and ancient manuscripts. The layout is striking and filled with so much information. The text is sparse and to the point which is just fine when introducing this book to a western reader since the original is a mammoth read. I am using this text as part of a high school world literature course with my homeschooled child and so far it has caught her interest as hoped.
November 24, 2023
My quest to have a better understanding of the Hindi Epic, theoretically a critical piece to the Subcontinent's mindset. This was lush and expansive, filled with art and quotes from multiple sources. I felt more confused during and after than I did before I started. I am more than willing to lay the fault at myself, but it is still a failure for the work to interface with me.
Want to read
August 29, 2021Good
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews