Ramayana

   The epic poem of the war between the Aryam invaders of India and the rulers of Ceylon, told in a fashion resembling that of the Iliad. It appears to have been composed in its earliest form about 1000 BC by Valmiki, about whom little is known. The scenes are set at a considerably later date to those of the Mahabharata. The 96,000 lines of this work are divided into seven books telling the story of Rama, of his wife Sita and of their various misadventures culminating in the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the King of Ceylon, and of her rescue by Rama with the aid of Hanuman, the general of the Monkey-King. The religious character of the work appears to be an afterthought.