For many Hindus, there is only one version of Rama’s journey and that is Valmiki’s Ramayana, written in Sanskrit, although many Tamil-speakers would be quick to argue that their version – Kamban’s Ramayanam, also known as Ramavataram – is far superior, being the work of a thirteenth-century court poet from Thanjavur, and first read out by him in the precincts of the vast Sri Ranganathaswamy Vishnu temple on the outskirts of Trichy.
