4 The Hindu holiday Diwali is a celebration of good over evil It is the festival of lights
The Ramayana 5 Chapter 1 On the holiday of Diwali people celebrate with strings of lights candles and firecrackers Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights It is a celebration of light over dark and of good over evil Hindus celebrate this holiday by telling the tale of the prince Rama His exciting story follows Rama and Sita A long time ago in India Rama was born Rama was the oldest son of King He had dark skin dark eyes and black curly hair Rama was an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu That means he was a god in human form Vishnu had given Rama his spirit because Rama had a special purpose on Earth Rama was strong handsome and loved by all He was always successful Everyone knew that he would someday become king
In a nearby kingdom the good King Janaka wanted his beautiful daughter Sita to marry the bravest and strongest prince in all of India Sita was born with the spirit of Vishnu’s wife the goddess Lakshmi She was graceful with long flowing hair She too was loved by everyone My daughter will marry the prince who can string my bow said Sita’s father Many princes tried but only Rama could string the bow Rama and Sita had a grand wedding and lived happily for many years Rama will be the next king Rama’s father said But Rama’s stepmother wanted her son Bharat to be king She asked the king to send Rama away The king had once promised his wife that he would grant her two wishes so he told Rama to leave the kingdom Exiled Rama Sita and Rama’s brother Lakshman went to live in the forest The forest was filled with many wild beasts and evil spirits Rama and Lakshman fought many of them and always won Before long they were visited by an evil woman She was the sister of Ravan the monster king with ten heads from the city of Lanka When Ravan’s sister saw Rama she fell in love with him and asked him to marry her 6
I cannot marry you he said I love Sita She is my wife The monster king’s sister did not like Rama’s answer So she tried to harm Sita Luckily Sita was saved by Lakshman Hurt and angry Ravan’s sister Rebirth The three main Hindu gods are Brahma the creator of the universe Vishnu the protector of the universe and Shiva the destroyer of the world According to Hindu belief Vishnu was born as a human many times Each time he was born a new story was created When Vishnu was born as Rama his wife Lakshmi was born as Sita left the forest But she soon returned with the evil Ravan When Ravan saw Sita he fell in love with her He wanted her to be his wife Sita said no So Ravan tricked her and took her to his castle in Lanka Along the way Sita threw her scarf and a sparkling jewel to the magical monkeys in the forest She hoped the monkeys would help Rama find her The Hunt for Sita Rama and Lakshman wandered through the enchanted forest looking for Sita Along the way Rama met a creature that was under a magic 7
