Group Two
The next day, Group Two, consisting of Bharata, Draupadi, Duryodhana, and Shurpanakha, gave their presentation.
Bharata: First, we will start with a short story from the Ramayana.
During the battle between Rama's army and the forces of Ravana, Indrajit, the favorite son of Ravana, hit Lakshmana with a very powerful weapon. Lakshmana was severely wounded causing much despair among Rama and his army. In an attempt to save his brother's life, Rama sent Hanuman to the Himalayan Mountains to retrieve magical, healing flowers. Upon reaching his destination, Hanuman realized that he did not know what the flowers looked like. Acting quickly, he broke off a mountain peak that was covered in flowers and brought it back to the island of Lanka where Lakshmana lay dying. The magic flowers were quickly located and administered to Lakshmana, reviving Rama's brother and the spirit of his army.
Hanuman's Journey to Save Lakshmana
Image Creator: Jeremy Harris
We chose the Himalayas as our headlining geographic feature. The Himalayas are a mountain range extending from eastern Afghanistan to western Myanmar, covering approximately 1,500 miles.
They contain many of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest, the highest of them all at over 8,800 miles tall. The Himalayas form the northern border of India and in earlier times, prevented interaction between the people of India and the Chinese. They are also one of the main sources of the Ganges River and are considered to be the "Father of the Ganges" in Hinduism. The Himalayas are a source of many medical resources with plant and tree parts being used to treat everything from bronchitis to snake bites, possibly inspiring the story of Hanuman's journey.
Draupadi: Next, we will look at the Kingdom of Kosala. In the Ramayana, the Kingdom of Kosala was ruled from its capital of Ayodhya by Dasharatha, Rama's father, until his death. Rama would then rule the kingdom before leaving it to his sons, Lava and Kusa. The twin brothers would each inherit half of the kingdom, splitting the kingdom into two parts.
Some Buddhist and Jain texts refer to Kosala as one of the sixteen powerful kingdoms of the 6th Century BC in India, but it was eventually conquered in the 4th Century BC by another kingdom that plays a significant role in the Ramayana, Magadha. Magadha was home to Kausalya, King Dasharatha's first wife and Rama's mother. One Buddhist text states that Buddha was born into the Kingdom of Kosala as his clan, Shakya, resided in the northern part of the kingdom. While it later spread rapidly and is usually associated with China, Buddhism got its start in northern India.
Duryodhana: Our third feature is the Godavari River, which like the Himalayas and Kosala, is an important geographical feature of the Ramayana. During their exile, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana crossed the Godavari on their way to the Panchavati Forest. The poem to follow takes place just after Rama discusses his exile with Bharata, urging him to hold the throne until his exile is up. I will now recite the poem.
"Waked by love, a silent tear-drop fell on Godavari's wave,
True once more to righteous purpose Rama's heart was calm and brave
Rama plunged into the river'neath the morning's crimson beam,
Sita softly sought the waters as the lily seeks the stream,
And they prayed to Gods and Fathers with each rite and duty done,
And they sang the ancient mantra to the red and rising Sun,
With her lord, in loosened tresses Sita to her cottage came,
As with Rudra wanders Uma in Kailasa's hill of fame!"
This poem was translated by Romesh C. Dutt in 1899.
The Godavari is the second largest river in India at 910 miles long. It starts near the Arabian Sea, about 50 miles from the western coast of India, and extends all the way to the eastern coast, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It is seen as a holy river in Hindu society, and many places on the banks of the river have served as sites of pilgrimage for many years. The Godavari is also known as the South Ganges River.
Shurpanakha: Finally, we will look at Mount Meru, our only fictional feature. Mount Meru is important in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. All three religions believe that the mountain is the center of the universe. In Hinduism, the four sides of the mountain all have a purpose. The city of the gods is on the eastern side, and the city of the god of death, Yama, on the southern side. In the west is the city where the sun sets, and the city of the moon is in the north. It is believed to be 672,000 miles high. It is unclear where, exactly, Mount Meru is thought to be. Some texts and maps place the mountain in the North Pole, while others have it located in the Himalayas, and even others have it located in the center of the Earth.
Angkor Wat, located in Cambodia, was designed to represent Mount Meru. It is the largest religious structure in the world and was originally a Hindu temple, built to honor the god Vishnu. Somewhere between the late 12th Century and 14th Century, it was turned into a Buddhist temple, and it remains that way to this day.
Mr. Hanuman: What an exciting and informative presentation. Great job!
During our next class period Lakshmana, Bhima, Tara, and Yudhishthira will be giving their presentation.
Author's Note: Once again, the students' names were taken from characters of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, but are not the characters themselves. I did this just to connect these geographical locations with the characters and the stories. I chose the Himalayas as the feature for this group because while I'm that most of us have heard of the Himalayas, I know that I have been taught very little and I assume there are others with similar experience, or lack there of. I also liked the connection between Hanuman's journey to find healing plants/flowers and the fact that there are many flowers and plants from the area that are used that way in real life. I chose the Kingdom of Kosala because I was able to find a good bit of information on it and I feel that it fit pretty well with Group One having feature Ayodhya. The Godavari River was chosen because it is the second largest river in India and because of its significance in the Ramayana. Mount Meru was chosen because I find it very interesting, even more so knowing that the Angkor Wat was built to resemble the mountain, something I didn't know before starting this project. With this group, I tried to utilize more of the white space on the page by putting pictures side-by-side, which seems to have helped quite a bit. There is still more vertical white space than I would prefer, but I'm not really sure what to do about that, as every time I insert a picture into a text box (as opposed to giving the picture its own area), it messes up the formatting of text or the picture, as is the case of my first paragraph and picture.
Sources:
The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by Kamban / R. K. Narayan. Web Source
The Ramayana translated by Romesh C. Dutt (1899)
Banner Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
- Rohit Taujale