The Ramayana Trail: How I Traced Lord Rama’s 14 Year Exile Across India Alternative title
A film sent me back to the old serial, and the serial sent me back to Valmiki. Then a question took hold: can anyone follow Rama’s footsteps today? In this episode, I take you along the Ramayana trail from Ayodhya to Dhanushkodi, clue by clue. A king who ruled with a pair of sandals. A feast that conjured a forest. The Lakshman Rekha that Valmiki never drew. A bird claimed by five places. A bundle of jewellery dropped from the sky. And a town the sea took back. I also explain how fourteen years of exile became a fourteen day journey, and which parts of the trail remain open mysteries. Walk the Ramayana trail with us. Book at 5sensestours.com.
Key moments (estimates, adjust after recording)
00:00 It began in a cinema
02:30 Three tests for the Ramayana trail
05:00 Ayodhya and the child Hanuman
08:00 Nandigram and the king who ruled with sandals
11:30 Shringverpur and the matted hair
14:00 Prayagraj and the feast that conjured a forest
17:00 Chitrakoot, the long middle of the exile
20:00 Panchavati and the line that was never drawn
23:00 Lepakshi and five rival claims for Jatayu
26:30 Nimmalakunta and the shadow puppets
28:30 Hampi, Anegundi and the bundle of jewellery
31:30 Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi
34:30 Fourteen years, fourteen days
00:00 It began in a cinema
02:30 Three tests for the Ramayana trail
05:00 Ayodhya and the child Hanuman
08:00 Nandigram and the king who ruled with sandals
11:30 Shringverpur and the matted hair
14:00 Prayagraj and the feast that conjured a forest
17:00 Chitrakoot, the long middle of the exile
20:00 Panchavati and the line that was never drawn
23:00 Lepakshi and five rival claims for Jatayu
26:30 Nimmalakunta and the shadow puppets
28:30 Hampi, Anegundi and the bundle of jewellery
31:30 Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi
34:30 Fourteen years, fourteen days
