The Encyclopedia of World Religions

372 S Rama, Ramayana

ists ( see FUNDAMENTALISM , H INDU ). On December 6, 1992, partisans of Hindu nationalism destroyed a mosque at the alleged site of Rama’s birth, touch ing off anti-Muslim violence throughout India.

the rabbinate. By the mid-1980s, Reconstruction ist and Conservative Judaism had also begun to ordain women.

Rama, Ramayana Legendary hero of ancient India, and the most important account of his story. Although ancient Indians told many stories about a hero named Rama, the Ramayana was the most important. In it, Rama, a young prince of the city of Ayodhya, must go into exile in the forest for 14 years at the command of a greedy stepmother. While there, his wife Sita, who had accompanied him, is carried off by the chief of demons, Rav ana. Rama enlists the help of the forest monkeys to search for Sita. A monkey general, Hanuman, finds Sita in Ravana’s fortress, Lanka, which some traditions identify with the island of Sri Lanka. Together with his brother, Lakshmana, and armies of monkeys, Rama lays siege to Lanka, rescues Sita, and defeats and kills Ravana. He then returns to Ayodhya to rule and ushers in a golden age. The first version of the Ramayana was a poem of 24,000 Sanskrit couples written at least 2,000 years ago by a sage known as Valmiki. (The exact date is disputed.) Most Hindus today use other, more recent renditions of the story, such as Tulsi Das’s Hindi version or Kamban’s Tamil one. The events of the Ramayana have provided the sub ject for very many works of art not only in India but also throughout south and southeast Asia. In recent years comic books and an extremely popu lar television series have also told the story. Hindu tradition identifies Rama with an AVA TAR of the deity, Lord V ISHNU . In addition, Hin dus—and other Indians as well—see the charac ters of the story as ideals of how to live one’s life. For example, Rama is the ideal ruler and husband; Sita is the ideal wife; Hanuman is an exemplary religious devotee. Festivals such as Ramanavami and Dussehra celebrates the events and charac ters of the Ramayana, and Hindus often invoke Rama’s name. Indeed, He Ram! (“Oh Rama!”) were the last words that Mahatma G ANDHI spoke. As a powerful symbol of Hindu identity, the Rama yana has also been important to Hindu national

Ramadan The ninth month of the Islamic cal endar, during which Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. The fast during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of I SLAM . Because Muslims use a lunar calendar that is not adjusted to the solar year, Ramadan cycles throughout the months of the Gregorian calendar used in North America and Europe. When Rama dan falls in December, the days of fasting in the northern hemisphere are relatively short; when it falls in June, they are relatively long. Muslims make adjustments for people living in the far northern or southern portions of the globe, where at some times of the year the sun never rises, and at other times it does not set. Fasting during Ramadan, known in Arabic as sawm, is a full fast. Muslims should not eat, drink, smoke, or engage in sexual intercourse from sunup to sundown. The purpose of the fast, however, is spiritual discipline, and it should not endanger a person’s health. Those who are sick, traveling, pregnant, nursing, or too old to under take the fast without danger are exempt from the fast. Some who are exempt, such as travelers, must make up the fast at a later date. The end of the fast comes when a reliable person sights the crescent of the new moon, which marks the start of the next month. That is the occasion for a feast known as the Id al-Fitr, the “festival of fast-breaking.” Muslims give a variety of meanings to the Ramadan fast. Above all they fast because G OD commanded them to do so in the Q UR ’ AN . In addi tion, the “Night of Power,” that is, the night in which God’s revelations to his messenger M UHAM MAD first began, falls toward the end of Ramadan. Therefore, Muslims use this month as an oppor tunity to reflect on God’s revelation. During the course of the month many Muslims recite the entire Qur’an.