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Prince of Ayodhya (Ramayana #1)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 805 ratings · 76 reviews

The original Ramayana was written three thousand years ago. Now, with breathtaking imagination and brilliant storytelling, Ashok K. Banker has recreated this epic tale for modern readers everywhere

In this first book of the Ramayana, it is predicted Ayodhya, legendary capital of warriors and seers, will soon be a wasteland of ashes and blood. Only Rama, Prince of Ayodhya, c...more

Paperback, 532 pages

Published July 1st 2005 by Little, Brown Book Group

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Jul 08, 2007 Phyl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: have-read

This is a retelling of the first book of the Ramayana, the great Indian epic.

I loved it. I read one guy's disappointed comment on Amazon, to the effect that it was supposed to be something like Lord of the Rings, and he hadn't found it that way at all.

One mistake he made was that this isn't a fantasy like LOTR (though in its themes, it is); and the Indian style of myth is very different from other myth tellings. So one has to switch to "Hindu myth mode" for this story. In such myths, the hero i...more This is a retelling of the first book of the Ramayana, the great Indian epic.

I loved it. I read one guy's disappointed comment on Amazon, to the effect that it was supposed to be something like Lord of the Rings, and he hadn't found it that way at all.

One mistake he made was that this isn't a fantasy like LOTR (though in its themes, it is); and the Indian style of myth is very different from other myth tellings. So one has to switch to "Hindu myth mode" for this story. In such myths, the hero is always perfect, there's always ten thousand of this and a hundred thousand of that, and the good guys are always the "greatest" at this or that. It's so foreign to the Western way of portraying characters more realistically.

One might wonder how a good story can even be told about a hero like Rama, who is perfect in dharma and meditation, who is invincible, with divine weapons that always hit their mark, etc. Especially when he had his fortune told at birth, and pretty much everything was laid out in advance. You'd think there wouldn't be much real conflict, or suspense.

But Rama's story is more about the intricacies of dharma -- the law and duties pertaining to one's social position and one's devotion to the gods. The conflicts are really conflicts of duty, resolving the problem of one type of duty clashing with another equally legitimate type.

Anyway. What I really liked about this book was that the mythical characters get fleshed out as real people, to a great extent, even if they are supposedly perfect. When I read the translations of the epic, at university, you'd never see Rama actually making a joke, for example. But he and other characters get to be pretty real in this story.

I found a good review of it here (http://www.thealienonline.net/ao_060....), which had an interesting reminder:

Okay, on one level this all sounds terribly formulaic. We have noble young princes who will discharge their honourable duties to protect the realm of their ailing father. We have the return of an ancient evil many now consider mythical. We even have an ancient, near immortal wise man and sorcerer, the Brahmarishi Vishwamitra, who will complete the training of the princes and take them on a perilous quest. Like The Lord of the Rings we have an evil lord returning with an even vaster army than before. This may make the first book of the Ramayana cycle sound terribly unoriginal, and a couple of reviewers have indeed expressed this opinion.

However, I would have to argue they are being terribly unfair and just a little obtuse - this is a fantasy-novel-narrative version of a Sanskrit myth the original is over 3,000 years old. It is the basis of much of Indian mythology, theology, poetry and art. Far from being unoriginal - it is, in fact, one of the original sources of one of the great myths of mankind. I know little of Indian mythology (plenty about the food though) and I found it astonishing how many themes in this ancient mythological cycle were similar to Greek, Roman, Persian, Norse or Celtic mythology. Basically this novel interpretation showed me how damned near universal some of humanity’s dreams and fears are, from differing ages and differing continents, from the dawn-days of civilisation to modern novels.

Really. One might just as well say is a very late version of a Ramayana-type story.

Oh, and another quick note. Sanskrit terms are used all through the book, with no explanation or translation except a glossary in the back. I didn't have much trouble with them, since I'd studied the epic in two different versions at school. Some can be understood fairly quickly by the context. But anyone who reads this -- keep your finger in the glossary, and be prepared to do a lot of flipping.

I now must pick up the remaining six books.
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Aug 27, 2012 Jay Bostwick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a big fan of the Ramayana, I have to admit being predisposed to liking this book.

The book does move slowly, as other reviewers have commented, but all for the purpose of becoming acquainted with a large cast of characters at the beginning of a large story and a long series of books. This is epic storytelling, at an epic pace, which is not at all to say that it is a tedious read; you just can't be expecting that the major villain, Ravana, will be defeated, or that he will even make much of an...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Nisrin Aziz rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the most interesting novels I have ever read. Although it is an epic, Banker smoothly translates it into the kind of reading our generation is used to. This book has satisfied my fears of the notion that the Ramayan is slow and way to fantastical to digest. Banker deserves an award!
This series is truly a milestone.

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Apr 20, 2013 Sathyam is currently reading it

Great start to the Ramayana series. The author has tried to be true to Valmiki's version, rather than the watered down, docile Tulsidas version, that today's Ramayana followers are so accustomed to. So it is a little different than what you would expect! Manthara, in this Valmiki version was a truly worthy and frightening foe!

Mind you, this is not a version you read to kids. For that, you will have to reach for Rajgopalchari's Ramayana. This version of Ramayana is clearly R-rated, more for the h...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Meera Srikant rated it 4 of 5 stars

The trouble with reading a book based on Indian mythology - especially ones like Meluha and this one - is that one keeps trying to map what one is reading with what one knows. And this book, like the other one, is startling in what it reveals - my complete ignorance.

Prince of Ayodhya was a book I hesitated to pick up because well, it is Ramayana retold. What can it offer more than the Amar Chitra Kathas and C. Rajagopalachari's books? Having depicted different aspects of Ramayana in dance and wa...more The trouble with reading a book based on Indian mythology - especially ones like Meluha and this one - is that one keeps trying to map what one is reading with what one knows. And this book, like the other one, is startling in what it reveals - my complete ignorance.

Prince of Ayodhya was a book I hesitated to pick up because well, it is Ramayana retold. What can it offer more than the Amar Chitra Kathas and C. Rajagopalachari's books? Having depicted different aspects of Ramayana in dance and watched them being performed, it just looked like a theme beaten to death.

But Banker says, no, you know very little, and I bow before that verdict.

Tataka Vadh - though significant in many ways, normally gets done with in 5 minutes in every dance show I have seen. But Banker takes a major part of the 500 odd pages to describe the two days that build up to the actual killing of the Yakshi (I thought she was Ravana's cousin and rakshasi).

I thought Ravana was an erudite scholar with just very unsurprising failings - weakness for women, kept in check by the curse by a woman, and pride... But nothing more scary than that.

Banker says no, he was an asura and plotting to overthrow the human world.

I had seen Shobana's Maya Ravan and laughed through the whole ballet. Manthara was shown to be in Ravana's pay there... which I didn't believe. But Banker shows clearly why and how. Kaikeyi is yet another character to watch out for.

On the flip side, the book has heavy Bollywood influence in the way people speak to each other melodramatically at times, Sumitra crushing the pallu between her teeth in an emotional moment, Kausalya placing a finger on Dasaratha's lips to stop him from speaking of his death etc. And then it is detailed at times - and for someone like me who likes scenes to be crisp, it is slightly protracted.

But still it makes for fascinating read. There are many twists and turns, and Banker ends chapters at critical points to move away to another parallel episode, to keep the suspense.

A great read and will be looking for the sequels now.

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Oct 15, 2012 Shantanu Sharma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Please go through my review written on my blog:
http://shaanzworld.wordpress.com/2012...

Ramayana Redux is what I might call this - in the “Lord of the Rings” format with a “Clash of the Titans”-ish lore. Its a heavy-duty remix of all Ramayana’s written till date (as Banker writes in his epilogue), with a very widened touch of his own visualization of this epic. The dramatization of the events are invigorating (some of them were good to note – as you will read ahead) – and not like the Ramanand S...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story alone is almost enough to carry this one. Almost. I'm a huge fan of the Ramayana, but the prose of this retelling has the tendency of overstating the brutally obvious, often several times per page. For example, when the demon king Ravana finally enters the action, Banker takes a full two pages to describe him. This is fair, considering Ravana has ten heads. The passage concludes by saying the outer two heads have ears. "These are the auditory organs by which the creature accomplished t...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Smitha rated it 1 of 5 stars

Phew! Thank god it's done. Maybe it's me, but this book totally did not live up to my expectations - especially given that I've read loads of rave reviews! How? I guess it's just me.

It was slow,slow, slow. It just did not capture my interest. The characters were all one sided -white or black with no shades of grey. i felt he tried to make a Harry Potter out of Rama, and the Asuras were all Voldermort's(Ravana) forces, of course. Kaikeyi was super evil, while Kausalya was all pure. I mean, in a...more

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Nov 23, 2012 gramakri rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has rekindled my interest in Ramayana enough to look forward to reading its sequels too.
Banker through his creative imagination and interpretations has added sub-plots and incidents not found in any of the previous versions of Ramayana and has described them very vividly. This has bloated the size of the book to 500 odd pages based on this outline. Yet not in any point of time while reading it I was bored. This itself speaks of the author's story telling prowess.
Recommend this book for...more

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Jul 19, 2008 One rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book begins slowly with horrible images of war. I began to appreciate it more as the story progresses and describes the Odyssey-like journey of Rama. The book does a really good job presenting some of the myths of India.

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Nov 09, 2012 Devnandan rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book is a good read and i think the author is trying to write the ramayana as it was by dividing it into the 7 Kaands. The first one in Valmiki's ramayana is "Ayodhya kaandam" , here it is the prince of Ayodhya. However, for a mythology nerd this book will not meet up to the expectations and may fall well short for some of us (i am a myth nerd too). There are 3-4 mistakes which will stick out like a sore thumb to the nerd and a couple of controversial things, but Hindu myths are fraught with...more

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Aug 06, 2008 Sudeshna rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an extremely well-written book and imparts a quality of a bestseller thriller to one of the most ancient classics of all times.

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Oct 18, 2010 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, favorites, india, writers-from-the-indian-continent

I did enjoy this first book of the retelling of the Ramayana and plan to find out more about the original epic!

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Feb 28, 2008 Vikram rated it 5 of 5 stars

renewed my interest in hindu mythology!! great way of putting the ancient tale!

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Mar 25, 2013 Ramya Narayanan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have been on a mythological trip for a while now. Realized one day that I know precious little about the mythological heritage of our country. So I set out to understand what exactly all the hoopla is about.

For a novice, the first 2 stories that come to one’s mind when spoken the word ‘mythology’ are – “The Mahabharata” and “The Ramayana”. I spoke to a few people about which books to read to gain understanding on these subjects. The whole journey started with my copy of “Jaya – A retelling of...more I have been on a mythological trip for a while now. Realized one day that I know precious little about the mythological heritage of our country. So I set out to understand what exactly all the hoopla is about.

For a novice, the first 2 stories that come to one’s mind when spoken the word ‘mythology’ are – “The Mahabharata” and “The Ramayana”. I spoke to a few people about which books to read to gain understanding on these subjects. The whole journey started with my copy of “Jaya – A retelling of the Mahabharata” by Devdutt Pattanaik. It has been 3 years thence. And the trip continues.

My subject here is to speak about the Ramayana series by Ashok Banker. It is a series of 8 books, detailing the ‘travels of Rama’ or more literally, ‘The Ramyana’. I am now reading the 4th installment in the series. Since I am right in the thick of the action, I thought this to be the right time to write a review on the series.

The Ramayana was originally divided into chapters called ‘Kaands’. Ashok Banker, however, deviates from that. His story is more mellifluous. It just flows. “The Prince of Ayodhya”, is a book of the stories of the great king Dasharatha, of his victories and vices, about the unbreakable bond between the princes of Ayodhya, about the fragile relationships between the king and his 3 queens, about the never ending war between the Devas and the Asuras, and of course, the mortals, forever stuck in between the two.

It all happens around Holi day. The signs are ominous. On one hand, the kingdom celebrates, on the other, the king’s health deteriorates. He must decide upon a successor to his kingdom and decides to announce it to his ‘praja’ on the auspicious day of Holi. But, alas, that was not to be. Rama, the oldest prince of Ayodhya, has just returned from his years of tutelage in the ashram of Guru Vashistha. He is still adjusting to the life of a prince, after the years spent amidst nature.

However, there is a lot lurking behind the scenes. Rama repeatedly comes across a doe wherever he goes; his strange connection to the creature; he, feeling like someone is watching him, ALWAYS. The sudden appearance of the revered Sage Vishwamitra. These and some more incidents, leaves one with a feeling that something is about to happen. Something big. Not necessarily good.

The book ends with the brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, leaving their home with Sage Vishwamitra into a feared land to accomplish a task, which they have been ordained to perform.

The book is a stark contrast from the other versions of the same story I have read before. Usually these stories end up being laden with countless names, their relations with each other and numerous incidents, one after the other. On one account, I had to re-read the previous pages of a book just to establish the relation of a character with another one. In short, it gets confusing. This book reads like a story. The story unfolds slowly, with enough emphasis given to each character.

The best part of the book is the foreword. The vision of the author is encapsulated beautifully in these 15 odd pages. I love cross references. I like to read different versions of the same things, in different scriptures. In the foreword, the author speaks about the different versions of the Ramayana available and how each one has taken their own liberties, to retell the same story! It fascinated me entirely!

Having said that, this book is meant to be a speed-read. There is a lot of unnecessary detailing of not-so-significant incidents or characters. May be the author just wanted the book to be over 500 pages and just kept adding stuff to fill the pages up. That was a let down.

The book is full of “quote worthy” lines. At the end of it, I still remember everything about the book, remember all the characters, did not have to go back to the book even once to re-check who-is-who. So yeah, it’s a win for me.

For more, visit bit.ly/X7iKzm (less)

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Jun 29, 2012 Jyoti Babel rated it 5 of 5 stars

See the full review here http://jbabel.blogspot.ie/2012/06/pri...

The book was every bit fascinating that I expected it to be. Even though I have read that the author has added his own imagination in the story telling and that his version of the story deviates a lot from the original Ramayana, the novel refreshed a lot of my childhood memories that I had of the epic saga. All thanks to the Ramayana TV serial that was telecast-ed on Doordarshan in those days.

The author has given a lot of attention...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Poonam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Illustrations are nice, gritty and new - done by an Argentinean artist who has never set foot in India. The graphics are very detailed; sometimes there are centre-spread and full page illustrations. Delightful, in my opinion.

Story is of course Banker-ish pulp fiction Ramayana - Manthara is powerful and has lot of secrets to hide. She treats Kaikeyi with disdain and treats her shabbily. Sample this, she tells her queen - You do what you do best that is looking beautiful. Leave the thinking to me....more

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Oct 27, 2010 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, hinduism-buddhism

I enjoyed this first book of the series based on the Ramayana. However, as a Christian, it left me feeling a bit in the dark. When I read a novel, I tend to let myself ooze into the material. Or perhaps the material oozes into me. I am a Christian. I believe in Truth. Capital letter T. So when I read a novel which contains many and BIG lies, it hurts my soul.

No, not in an effeminate kind of way. As if, "Oh, my poor soul." Give me a break. Don't be so immature.

No, but when I read a novel and it...more

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Jul 07, 2008 sean rated it 2 of 5 stars

I give this book a resounding "eh." I mean, it's okay, and he can keep you turning pages with his moderately interesting picture of the society, but almost nothing happens in the whole damned 500-page book (which, unlike most of the other people who gave it a poor rating, I actually finished). The first 350-400 pages are literally just the first day of the Ramayana.

Beyond a very little palace intrigue, and a moderate amount of exposition, there's not much there--almost no character development,...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Ashok Kishore added it

What can one say about a book based on the Ramayana? This was only book 1 of 6, and if the others are anywhere near as good as this one, then Ashok Banker is a genius.

His descriptions of Ayodhya, of the royal family, of the brahmins and all aspects of life as he imagines the Ramayan to be are awesome.

I had always wanted to read an easy version of the Ramayan, and thanks again to Amitabh for the recommendation.

Bring on the rest!

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Jun 15, 2008 Darrell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

A basic fantasy novel about a young boy with special powers killing monsters with the help of a magician, except instead of battling ogres and dragons, the supernatural creatures in this book are based on Hindu mythology. A fun, quick read, but ultimately mediocre.

The book annoyed me at times. For example, Banker insists that the multiple gods of the Hindu religion are really all different aspects of one god, as if monotheism were somehow superior to polytheism. He speaks positively of the pract...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Girish Krishnakumar rated it 1 of 5 stars

I half expected something on the lines of Meluha knowing it would be nothing like Alexander (Manfredi). I found - it gave me a mild headache.

This book is struggling between reason, mythology, animation and an almost after thought of telling a story. 500+ pages of this book, moves much like Dan brown novel between two plots. Writing style - not my cup of tea.

Somehow challenging the popular notion is one thing, but forcibly trying to introduce a character sketch that is different seemed contrive...more

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Jan 16, 2009 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Banker's first book in his retelling of the Hindu epic Ramayana as a sort of quasi-Tolkieneque epic. Not bad, generally, but some of the changes he makes from original, especially to the personality and actions of the demon king Ravana, are jarring and not as good as the original characterization.

Definitely a good way to introduce teenaged fans of fantasy novels to Hindu mythology, prepping them perhaps to read the real deal.

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Feb 23, 2013 Sangita rated it 3 of 5 stars

A nice beginning to an epic journey. Gives us an insight about the actual happenings in kingdoms and the circle of seers regarding rise of Raavan as as Asura destined to bring about an end to mankind.

Ram's evolution as the protector is fascinating and the journey inside his mind regarding the happenings within and without the palace is enthralling.

Look forward to reading the next part.

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Jun 03, 2012 Peyton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fictionn-and-fantasy

Very readable, and hard to put down, retelling of the Ramayana as a modern sword and sorcery thriller, complete with chapter by chapter POV jumps and a little slapstick humor. The most interesting part is seeing how Indian concepts of dharma affect the plot and how the characters see themselves, which is quite different from how Western characters thrown into such situations would see themselves.

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May 03, 2013 Rohit rated it 4 of 5 stars

Written in an epic, Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars style, Ashok Banker creates a world of demon rakshasaas, princes and kingdoms, brahmin and asura shaktis that completely enthralls you. The author takes only enough liberties to twist the original Ramayana to make it interesting without making it vulgar or boring.

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Aug 07, 2012 Amany Rajab rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, vampires-demons-monsters, vivid-imagery

This series was just amazing! It re-tells the ancient Sanskrit epic in such an awesome way and the imagery was painted beautifully. This story has everything from romance to adventure to fantasy. I honestly did not know this story was from Hindu scripture at the time I read it which makes it all the more amazing.

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Mar 20, 2013 Gayathri Manikandan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythology, indian-writer

Though I have grown up hearing stories from Ramayana, I have never attempted to read Ramayana in any form. From that perspective, Ashok K.Banker's retelling is a great start. Although am not sure how much width and depth of the epic AKB's series covers, the narration is captivating, characters are well defined and the writing style is apt for the time period the story is set in. Reading a book with 500+ pages is not an easy task. Not only has the author succeeded in this, but also he has left me...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent! Both exciting and fascinating; it reads like a modern fantasy novel, but it is based on the Ramayana and depicts an ancient Indian civilization. This is only the first book in the series and I will have to read the rest of them. I really enjoyed this.

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Dec 25, 2012 Abhijeet Ranade rated it 5 of 5 stars

Indian mythology on a LOTR-like canvas...the whole series is amazing!! It seems a little hurried later on in the series (esp book 6 to book 8), nonetheless, to take a very popular story and still keep the reader intrigued is commendable.

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About Ashok K. Banker

Ashok is an internationally acclaimed author of mixed-race and mixed-cultural parentage based in Mumbai, India. His Epic India Library is a lifetime writing plan that aims to retell ALL the major myths, legends and itihasa of the Indian sub-continent in an interlinked cycle of over 70 volumes. This includes the Ramayana Series, Krishna Coriolis, the Mahabharata Series, the contemporary thriller Bl...more

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