Questions and answers
What is the Ramayana?
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic poem. It tells the story of Ram, prince of Ayodhya: his exile to the forest, the abduction of his wife Sita by Ravan, king of Lanka, her rescue with the help of Hanuman and the vanara army, and Ram’s return to Ayodhya as king. The Valmiki Ramayana has about 24,000 verses in seven books called kandas.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, sargas 1–4 (Narada tells the story to Valmiki; the poem’s size and its seven parts are described in sarga 4).
Who wrote the Ramayana?
The Sanskrit Ramayana is traditionally attributed to the sage Valmiki, honoured as the adi kavi, the first poet. In the poem’s own opening, the sage Narada tells Valmiki the story of Ram, and Valmiki composes it in verse; his disciples Lava and Kusha first recite it. Many later retellings exist, such as Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi and Kamban’s Ramavataram in Tamil.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, sargas 1–4.
What happens in each kanda of the Ramayana?
Bala Kanda: Childhood and youth: the birth of Ram and his three brothers to King Dasharath of Ayodhya, the journey with the sage Vishwamitra, the defeat of Tataka, the breaking of Shiva’s bow in Mithila, and Ram’s marriage to Sita. Ayodhya Kanda: The court of Ayodhya: Ram’s coronation is stopped when Queen Kaikeyi claims two boons, Ram goes into exile for fourteen years with Sita and Lakshman, Dasharath dies, and Bharat refuses the throne and rules in Ram’s name. Aranya Kanda: The forest: the exiles live among the sages of Dandaka, settle at Panchavati, face Khara’s army; Maricha, as a golden deer, draws Ram away while Ravan carries Sita off, and the vulture Jatayu falls defending her. Kishkindha Kanda: The vanara kingdom: Hanuman brings Ram to Sugriv, Ram defeats Vali, Sugriv becomes king, and the search for Sita spreads to the southern ocean. Sundara Kanda: Hanuman’s journey: he leaps the ocean, finds Sita in Ravan’s ashoka grove, gives her Ram’s ring, sets Lanka alight and returns with her message. Yuddha Kanda: The war: Vibhishan joins Ram, the army builds a bridge to Lanka, Kumbhakarna and Indrajit fall, Ram defeats Ravan, Sita is reunited with Ram, and they return to Ayodhya for Ram’s coronation. Uttara Kanda: The last book: events after the coronation, including the story of Lava and Kusha. This game does not include it.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, the seven kandas.
Who is Ram?
Ram is the hero of the Ramayana: the eldest son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya and Queen Kausalya. In Hindu tradition he is an avatar of Vishnu and the model of a just king and a man who keeps his word. He accepts fourteen years of exile to keep his father’s promise, defeats Ravan to free Sita, and returns to rule Ayodhya.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda 15–18 (birth), Ayodhya Kanda (exile), Yuddha Kanda (war and coronation).
Who is Sita?
Sita is the daughter of King Janak of Mithila, who found her in a furrow of the earth while ploughing a field. She marries Ram after he breaks Shiva’s bow, chooses to follow him into exile, is carried off to Lanka by Ravan, and refuses Ravan throughout her captivity. In Hindu tradition she is honoured as an incarnation of Lakshmi.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda 66–67, Ayodhya Kanda 26–30, Sundara Kanda.
Who is Lakshman?
Lakshman is Ram’s younger brother, a son of King Dasharath and Queen Sumitra and the twin of Shatrughna. He leaves Ayodhya to serve Ram and Sita through the fourteen years of exile and fights beside Ram in the war in Lanka.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda 18, Ayodhya Kanda 31, Yuddha Kanda.
Who is Hanuman?
Hanuman is a vanara, the son of the wind god Vayu and Anjana, and a minister of Sugriv. He brings Ram and Sugriv together, leaps across the ocean to Lanka, finds Sita and gives her Ram’s ring, and carries the mountain of healing herbs during the war. He is revered as the greatest devotee of Ram.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda 3 and 66, Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda.
Who is Ravan?
Ravan is the ten-headed rakshasa king of Lanka. Protected by a boon from Brahma, he troubles gods and sages, carries Sita away from Panchavati, and refuses every chance to return her. Ram defeats him in the final battle of the war.
Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda 15, Aranya Kanda 46–56, Yuddha Kanda.
Is this game faithful to the Valmiki Ramayana?
The game follows the Valmiki Ramayana from the Bala Kanda to Ram’s coronation in the Yuddha Kanda; the Uttara Kanda is outside it. Each of the 43 stages names the kanda and sarga it adapts. The dialogue is an original adaptation, not a word-for-word translation, and some passages and supporting battles are shortened. The sarga numbers follow ValmikiRamayan.net.
Source: The game’s About screen; the stage pages of this site.
Is the game free?
Yes. The game is free to play in a web browser. There is no download to install and there is no advertising. You sign in with a Google account to play.
Source: This site.
Which devices does it run on?
It runs in a current web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari) with WebGL graphics. On a computer you play with the keyboard; on phones and tablets the game shows touch controls. The game streams large 3D scenes, so a recent device and a good connection help.
Source: The game’s controls and How to play screen.
Is the game available in Hindi?
Yes. The dialogue is voiced in Hindi, with subtitles in English or Hindi. The menus and on-screen text can be shown in Hindi or English, and the subtitle and voice languages can be changed in Settings.
Source: The game’s About screen.
How long does the game take?
About 90 minutes for the 43 stages, by the game’s own pacing model of a first-time player (an estimate, not a measurement of real players; the opening and closing films add a few minutes). You can stop at any time and continue later.
Source: The game’s pacing model.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. The game is for all ages. It contains scenes of battle without gore, and revered figures are shown with dignity.
Source: The game’s About screen.
Do I need to sign in to play?
Yes. You sign in with your Google account to play. Signing in keeps your progress so that you resume where you left off, on any device, and a leaderboard shows the players who finish the journey. The pages of this site (about, chapters, stages, questions) can be read without signing in.
Source: The game’s sign-in screen; the privacy page of this site.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. Your progress is saved to your Google sign-in, so you resume where you left off, on any device. You can ask for your data to be deleted at any time.
Source: The privacy page of this site.
How were the paintings, voices and characters made?
The 298 story paintings were made with AI image generation (Nano Banana Pro on Higgsfield) and chosen for the story; the 411 Hindi voice lines are synthetic (AI4Bharat IndicF5 (MIT), AI4Bharat Indic Parler-TTS (Apache-2.0)); the 126 character models were made with Meshy and Tripo and then rigged and animated for the game. The game’s credits list every model, painting, sound and licence.
Source: The game’s credits (CREDITS.md).