Teacher, translator and scholar Arshia Sattar, who has translated the Valimiki Ramayana, talks about different traditions of the Ramayana that are recounted in India and South-east Asia. “There is a Dalit Ramayana, one written from Sita’s point of view, and many others in every language and culture.” It is a text embedded in the ethos of the land. That is what makes it so unique, she says.

In a podcast interview to Sidharth Bhatia, Sattar, who has also written an illustrated version for children, says newer versions of the Ramayana have been composed in keeping with the cultural-social conditions of the time they were written.

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