 Summary of this article
- Women in the Ramayana embody leadership, resilience, and protest but remain sidelined in male-dominated retellings.
- Alternative versions, especially folk and Dalit tellings, place Sita at the centre while diminishing Rama’s role.
- Across oral and written traditions, the many Ramayanas reveal women as visionaries, rebels, and change-makers.
Vijayadashami, popularly known as Dussehra, is celebrated each year to symbolise the eternal victory of good over evil. Observed on the tenth day of Navratri, Dussehra marks the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon king Ravana. While this spirit of victory lies at the heart of the Ramayana, the stories of its women characters often remain underrepresented.
Retellings and adaptations of the Ramayana remain popular across India, where each iteration of myths adds or creates a new version, a new protagonist, changes the lens, and changes the plot, too. However, the role of women and the gaze it employs is predominantly male-driven. |
