Simhika is a rakshasa who encounters Hanuman when he travels to Sri Lanka.  When king Sugriva sent his army under the leadership of Hanuman to search for Sita, he warned him of   a giantess Angara who resided in the Southern Sea. Angara had the ability of drawing

 Anyone who crossed the sea towards her and when Hanuman jumped to Larika from the mountain of Mahendra, Angara pulled him to her by his shadow. Clearly, Simhika also known as Arigaraka was not an ordinary rakshasi and Hanuman experienced a storm raging around him. It was a struggle but Hanuman managed to grab the monster with an uncouth face and a mouth as wide as the hole of Patala (the nether world). Hanuman defeated her eventually and Simhika collapsed on the floor unable to stop Hanuman on his journey to rescue Sita. 

Surasa is one of the three women who encounter Hanuman on his journey to Lanka; the other two are rakshasi Simhika and Lankini, the guardian goddess of Lanka. The heavenly Surasa represents the element akasha (sky), while Simhika and Lankini represent water and earth.

According to the legend, Kashyapa, the daughter of Daksha conceived ten daughters from Krodhavasha namely, Mrigi, Mrigamanda, Hari, Bhadramata, Matangi, Shardduli, Shveta, Surabhi, Surasa and Kadru. Every daughter was born from a different emotion. Surasa was born from her father’s anger and over a period of time, Surasa delivered three nagas – Anala, Ruha and Virudha.

When Hanuman set out in search of Sita mata, the deities employed Surasa, the mother of nagas to test Hanuman. Surasa appeared in the shape of a giant and began to consume Hanuman. Hanuman tried reasoning with Surasa but she opened her mouth wide to swallow him. The wider Surasa opened her mouth the larger Hanuman became. Frustrated, Surasa extended her jaw line to maximum and was surprised when Hanuman reduced himself   to the size of a finger. He entered her mouth and came out immediately. Surasa realised this was not an ordinary monkey and blessed him.

Ruma was the original wife of King Sugreev, king of vanarraaj Kishkinda She is mentioned
in Book IV (Kishkindha Kanda) o Ramayan and as per the legend, Ruma and Sugriva fell in
love with each other and decided to get married. Ruma’s father however did not approve of
the alliance, so Sugreeva sought Hanuman’s aid and abducted Ruma and they married soon
after. The couple was separated when Vali returned from the battle and forcibly took away
Ruma from Sugreev after the royal misunderstanding. Later, the fact that King Vāli was not
releasing Rum to Sugveer despite pleas from Tara became the primary justification for Lord
Ram to support Sugveer and slay King Vāli. This is probably the only time Lord Ram erred
in the eyes of his followers. That he assassinated Vali from the shades rather than from the
front is something the writers of Ramayan have not been able to justify. The epic says Vali
was power drunk and had to be perished and he was such a great warrior that the only way to
win him was deceit.  Unfortunately, the epic has no mention of how Ruma perceived her
abduction and Vali’s assassination. There is no mention of how she accepted Tara in her life
and later, when Sugveer strays after being crowned the king a second time.

Tara is the daughter of the monkey physician Sushena in Ramayana. Some sources describe
Tara as an apsara (celestial nymph) who rises from the churning of the milky ocean. She
marries Vali, the king of vanarraaj Kishkinda and bears him a son named Angada. Vali and
Tara are a happy family until King Vali goes to fight a deadly battle with a demon residing
inside a dark cave and does not return. For the sake of the kingdom and the welfare of the
missing king’s family, Vali’s twin, Sugveer is advised by the elders in the kingdom to marry
Tara and father his brother’s child. A few years later however, King Vali, assumed to be dead,
suddenly surfaces and accuses Tara of betrayal and his brother Sugveer of treachery.
 
King Vali challenges King Sugveer to a duel where Sugveer wins because he is supported by
Lord Ram. Tara had warned Vali that this would happen. In some versions of the epic, Tara
curses Lord Ram for the death of her husband “You will find Sita but lose her again”. In other
versions of the epic, Tara is instrumental in reconciling Rama with Sugriva and pacifying an
angry Lakshman determined to destroy Kishkinda in retribution for Sugriva’s perceived
treachery. Tara’s intelligence, presence of mind, courage and devotion to her husband Vali is

praised. She is extolled as one of the panchakanya (five women), the recital of whose names
is believed to dispel sin.
To be continued

Devi Anusuya is revered for her austerities and miraculous powers. She is the daughter of Sage Kardama and his wife Devahuti. And sister of Sage Kapila, who was also her guru. Her marriage with Rishi Atri is a milestone in mythology because Devi Ansuya is the ultimate consort, to an extent that even the goddesses are envious of her. There is a story about how goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati forced their spouses to test her chastity and the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh) arrived at her doorstep in the disguise of sadhus seeking bhiksha.  Devi Ansuya is alone at her home in the southern periphery of the forest of Chitrakuta but invites the sages indoors and serves them a meal. The sadhus – want to bathe before food and put a condition that the householder should personally bathe all three in a state of undress. Devi Ansuya senses that they are no ordinary sadhus and they are here with a mission. She does not want to decline them and so, with her miraculous powers, transforms the sadhus into babies, bathes them, feeds them, and plays with them.

Hours later when the spouses don’t return home, Lord Narad reveals to goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati about what has transpired. They are ashamed of their behaviour and arrive at Chitrakut to claim their spouses. Devi Ansuya transforms the babies into Trinity again and Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh grant Devi Ansuya a boon each, a promise that they will be born as her sons, Dattatreya, Durvasa and Chandra. When Rishi Atri arrived home late evening and learnt what had occurred, he was proud of his consort.  Ever since, Devi Ansuya is extolled as Sati Ansuya. In Ramayan, the couple plays an important role in guiding Lord Ram into Dandvan, the dark forest occupied by the demons. Lord Ram is able to fight the demons because of the blessings of sage Atri and Sati Ansuya gifts special ornaments to Sita that maintain her beauty forever. 

To be continued

Sulochana – means the one with beautiful eyes. She is the daughter of Shesha, the king of the serpents. Sulochana is married to Meghanada also known as Indrajita, the eldest son of Ravana, but unlike other women does not reside with her in-laws but with her parents in the Patal Lok.  The arrangement is convenient initially because Meghnada is in long meditations in the hills. When he returns from the meditation it is not to take his wife to Lankesh but to request her to carry him and his father Ravana to Patal Lok where they cannot trespass without her aid. 

Ravan and Meghanada are on a mission. They want to kill Asur Dushtabudhi, husband of Surpanakha who is hiding in the Patal Lok. Dushtabudhi believes he is safe in Patal but Sulochana brings her husband to him and the rest is a foregone conclusion. The Valmiki Ramayana, has no mention of Sulochana, nor do the later versions of the epic. 

Meghanada was a noble man misled by his father and eventually perished by Lakshmana. He faced a cruel death and when his chopped head was carried to his wife Sulochana, she was devastated.   But she was an evolved soul and understood that Lakshmana is an incarnation of her father, King Shesha and whatever occurred was predestined. In the ballad Meghnad Badh Kavya, Prameela is mentioned as the consort of Indrajita. The fact is Prameela was another name bestowed upon Sulochana.

To be continued

Monster  is a lesson for all parents and teachers.

Director Kore-eda Hirokazu who has given us unforgettable films like Shoplifters and The Brokers, now presents another remarkable film, Monster.

This is a story about children, parents, schools, teachers, family. friends and about perspectives.

Through a simple, stirring story, Japanese director Hirokazu travels you into the hearts and minds of children and offers you an insightful, thought-provoking film.

The skyline has many colours and Hirokazu’s frames have many hues.At times dark and forbidding and at times sparkling like fairy lights. Sometimes you feel the adults are at fault. Sometimes you doubt the intent of the children.

There are layers to friendship, fears, romance and relationships. There is intrigue, imagination, sorrow and secrets.

Monster is a compelling watch. Powerful, positive, sensitive and spellbinding.

Mithila King Janaka’s wife Sunaina was the mother of Sita and her sister Urmila married to Lakshman. After King Janaka found baby Sita under the earth while ploughing the field one day and adopted her as his first born, he was blessed with his one and only biological child, Urmila. Legend has it that Sunaina was the daughter of a serpent, a devotee of Lord Shiva. And when she married King Janak, Shiva gifted her two precious two jewels, Chudamani and the other encrusted on a ring which Sunaina passed it on to daughter Sita when she married Lord Ram.

In another narrative it is mentioned that when King Janak met King Dasharath for the wedding of their children as per tradition, he had to present a gift to his samdhi and asked his wife to bring the best jewel from the treasure box for the father of the groom and Sunaina brought the finger ring presented to her by Lord Shiva. The forwarding story is that when Sita comes to Ayodhya after marriage her mother-in-law Kausalya has to give her muh dekhi and requested her husband Dasharath to gift their most precious jewel and Dasharath took off the ring presented to him by King Janak and handed it to his daughter-in-law. 

Chudamani and the finger ring remained with Sita as blessings from Lord Shiva till as long as she lived. Sita wore them during her exile and when she left Ayodhya again because they were jewels of divine origin and not from the royal treasury.