Story Lab 1: Story Book Research

The Women of the Ramayana: Good and Evil

Sita and Soorpanaka in the Ramayana
Source: Google Image

The Five Strong Ones

Although the Ramaya was filled with brilliant women, five of them stood out the most: Sita, Ahalya, Urmila, Kaikeyi, and Mandodari. I plan on including them all in my storybook as well as a few other characters. For this story lab, I am going to do research strictly on Sita considering she is the main female in the Ramayana. For the next story labs, I will do research on the others in order to be completed prepared when it is time to start my project.

Sita (Main Female, Rama's Wife): 

• Avatar
• Avatar of Sri Kashmi, Hindu goddess of good character and happiness
• Lineage and Relationships
• Daughter of the earth goddess
• Adopted daughter of a king and queen
• The product of a King and the land
• Legacy
• Consort of Lord Rama
• Epitome of spousal and feminine virtues
• Only able to marry the only person who would be able to sting Pinaka
• Forced into exile again due to allegations about her time with Ravana
• Was pregnant during second exile
• Personification of Earth's fertility, abundance, and well being
• Birth
• Birthplace disputed: Sitamarhi district Bihar, India vs. Province No. 2, Nepal
• Characteristics
• Physically, emotionally, and mentally strong
• As a child, she picked up the Shiv Dhanush by one hand.
• Single-handedly raised her children.
• Loyalty and Self-sacrifice
• When she had to choose between her husband and the rich life, she chose to be exiled to the forest for 14 years with Rama. 
• When her husband faced challenges, she stood by him each step of the way. 
• Refused Ravana's advancements towards her and struggled to protect her purity
• Unnatural Beauty
• Men waged a war over her 
• Ravana left his beautiful wives and only focused on her despite not being able to physically have her

Sita Links:

Source 1
Source 2

*I plan on adding to this set of notes as my research continues in case I find other interesting facts about Sita after I have published this post.