Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, the king of the demons or the asuras and Hema,
the celestial nymph or the apsara. It is said that Ravana walked into Mayasura’s home and
demanded Mandori’s hand in marriage. Mayasura was against Ravana and so was Mandodri
but both were helpless. Mandodri felt that she would transform Ravan and bring him on the
path of virtue but that did not happen. They had three sons: Meghanada (Indrajit), Atikaya
and Akshayakumara.
 
According to one version of the epic, Mandodari is the biological mother of Sita, the baby
King Janak discovers on a barren land wrapped in royal robe.  The legend reveals that Mandodri is the mother of Sita and Ravan her father but the mystery remains unexplained. Another
version says that Lord Hanuman tricked Mandodri into disclosing the arrow that would kill
her husband. The Telugu tale narrated in the Kuchipudi dance tradition, reveals that Ravana
asked Shiva for Parvati as his wife and Shiva created Parvati’s look-alike from a frog and
therefore the name – Mandodari.
To be continued

According to the legend Gyanvanti was a shudra and her beloved Shanntanu, a vaishya.
They married to different partners and broke the varna- ashrama dharma. Adultery was a
crime in Manu Smriti and so King Aja of Raghuvanshi dynasty in Ayodhaya  unctured
their vision  and adjudicated them to exile. Gyanvanti and Shantanu submitted to the Gods
and within a few years were blessed with a boy who they named Shrava Kumar. Shravan
Kumar was a devoted son and expected the same from his wife. His consort was good to him
but not his parents and sohe abandoned her and set out to fulfil their last last wish. Gyanwanti
and Shantanu desired to go on a pilgrimage and Shravan Kumar carried both his parents on
his shoulders from one sacred place to another.
It was while they were resting in a forest and Shravan Kumar went in search of water for his
thirsty parents that Shravan King Dashrath while hunting mistook him for an animal and
darted his arrow. When he realised his folly, it was too late. Shravan Kumar requested King
Dashrath to carry water for his parents but when Gyanvanti learnt her son was no more, she
collapsed and died. Shantanu was devastated by the loss of his son and his wife and cursed
King Dashrath that he must pine for his son the same way he pines for his son
 
To be continued

When princess Kaikeyi married King Dashrath and travelled from Kekeya to Ayodhya, her
favourite maid Manthara accompanied her to her new abode. Manthara was old and
hunchbacked and Kaikeyi’s father, King Aswapati felt that Kaikai will be happier with an old
companion in her new surroundings. Nobody knew at that time that Manthara would trigger
conflict in Ramayan. She resents queen Kaikeyi’s boundless love for her step son Ram and
repeatedly poisons her against the family. Kaikeyi resists her for a long time but when King
Dashrath decides to coronate Ram as his successor, Manthara instigates Kaikeyi to seek the
two boons King Dashrath promised her after saving his life on battlefront. Kaikeyi falls into
Manthara’s trap and asks 14-year exile for Ram and crown for her biological son Bharat.  
In some versions of the epic, the deities are projected to be against who Ram’s coronation and
lure Goddess Saraswati’s to make Manthara’s words come true.  In another story Rama is
supposed to have broken Manthara’s knee while playing stick- and-ball as a result she was
born hunch-backed in her next birth and determined to take revenge on the prince. 
 
To be continued

Queen three was Kaikeyi, princess of Kekeya, a land of horses. Kaikeya was the daughter of
king Asvapati and the sister of seven brothers. When Kaikeyi was a child, she was cursed by
a sage that she would become the most hated woman on the planet. It seemed unlikely
because she had impeccable manners and never seemed to affront anyone. She was revered as
a warrior in Kekeya and in Ayodhya and accompanied her husband Dasharatha on several
battles.
 
During a war held at the Dandaka Forest Dashrath was riding a broken chariot and unaware
of it. To prevent the cart wheel from falling out, Kaikeye inserted her left finger inside the
rotating wheel and continued to endure the pain till the war lasted. Dashrath felt indebted and
granted his wife two unconditional boons. For many years Kaikeyi had nothing to ask but
when the time came, Kaikeyi asked that her biological son Bharat should be made the king of
Ayodhya and her step son Ram should be sent to exile. 

Everyone misunderstood Kaikeyi except Ram. He knew that his Kaikeyi mata was a victim
of a curse and the curse had to come true
 
To be continued

Sumitra, princess of Kashi was the second queen consort of  Dasharatha, the king of Kosala, who ruled from Ayodhya. It is said that Dashrath married Soumitra for her kindness and her sensitivity was always in control of her emotions.  Soumitra was younger than queen Kausalya and older than queen Kaikeyi. King Dashrath was worried that he did not have an heir and on the request of Rishi Vasistha performed a Yagna to plead the deities. At the end of the ceremony he  had to share the prasad with all his three queens. 

King Dashrath first offered it to Kausalya then Kaikeyi. Noticing that he had forgotten Soumitra, Kausalya and Kaikeyi removed a portion from their plates and offered it to Sumitra. All the three become pregnant at the same time.  Kausalya and Kaikeyi who consumed one portion of the prasad  delivered Ram and Bharat, while Sumitra who consumed two portions of the prasad delivered twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughan.

Historians attribute utmost importance to the sacrifices made by Sumitra and her daughter-in-law Urmila because unlike Sita who had Ram beside her all the time, Laxman was always alone. 

To be continued

Kausalya was the senior queen-consort of Kosalain the Hindu epic Ramayana. The senior wife of King Dasharatha and the mother of Lord Rama, who ruled Kosala from its capital of Ayodhya. There are many interesting stories about why she was chosen to be the mother of Ram. As per the legend Kausalya in her earlier birth (Shatrupa) was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. She had no children, so Shutrapa and her husband Swayambhumanu did intense penance for years pleading the deity to grant them a child.

When Lord Vishnu finally granted them darshan, he said they were destined to be childless. But Shatrupa wanted Lord Vishnu as her child and Vishnu said Tathastu. “I will come into your life in your following births but it will be a relationship of longing and separation” Shutrapa was too happy to be a mother and without thinking it through, agreed. Lord Vishnu kept his promise. The first time he was born as Lord Ram to queen Kausalya and the second time as Lord Krishna brought to his foster mother Yashoda.

The epic says that Kausalya ascended to heaven after Lord Ram’s return from his exile but another story says that when Lord Brahma told Dashanand/ Ravan that the son of Kausalya and Dasharatha would be the cause of his death, Ravan abducted Kausalya before her wedding, and placed her in a box on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. How she got out of the ocean and married King Dashrath to give birth to Lord Ram is a story that will unfold in the forthcoming episodes.

To be continued

As the day of Ram wapis draws closer, there is excitement all over India. All the temples in all the regions all over the country are gearing up for a big celebration.

In Mumbai Iskcon Temple has been sparkling since a few days and most residents in the area I live in have decorated their homes and gardens with fairy lights.

The building I live in is hosting a party to celebrate the big day together and the women are planning a dress code. The excitement is palpable. 

In so many years of my growing up I have never experienced such  bonhomie. It is collective feeling and it is special.

Everything auspicious in most Hindu families  is  initiated post  Makar Sankranti. Up North Lohri is celebrated to bid farewell to winter and welcome harvest. It marks the transition of the sun into the zodiac sign of Capricorn.

As a little girl I have vivid memories of my mother preparing a large plate of til ka laddoos  that we children polished it off in no time. She always drew a swastika at the door on this day and hung a fresh flower toran on the main door.

My father encouraged us to start a new chapter in our school studies and extra-curricular activities. “Whatever you begin today will be accomplished without  interruptions”.

I have remembered that and always started a new book or project on this day. Most people do that, celebrating the festival in different regions by different names. Poush Sankranti in Bengal, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat, Magh Bihu in Assam and Makar Sankranti in North India.

This year I am going to explore the stories behind the many Indian festivals, the origin, the customs and the significance. Watch this space for more…