In the Footsteps of Rama: Travels with the Ramayana (PB)

Vikrant Pande and Neelesh Kulkarni's quest to retrace the route of Rama's fabled travels during his years in exile began with their trying to locate Chitrakoot on the map, and realizing that they had little idea where it was. Curious about the places mentioned in the Ramayana, they set off on a voyage of their own, following in Rama's footsteps, from Ayodhya to the Dandakaranya forest and Panchvati (near Nashik), and on to Kishkindha (close to Hampi), Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. Along the way they would discover how closely the narrative of the Ramayana is linked to local folklore, and how the stories of the epic and the moral framework that binds them together still speak to the people who live in the land across which Rama, Sita and Lakshman made their journey. For the armchair traveller as well as those interested in India's cultural history, this is a wonderful book with which to revisit the world of the Ramayana.