What if the Ramayana you grew up watching is only one version of a much larger story? In one tradition, Rama kills Ravana. In another telling, Sita takes a fierce form and destroys him. Jain literature presents yet another version in which Lakshmana kills Ravana. There are also traditions in which Sita returns from the earth when called upon. So which Ramayana is actually correct? The surprising answer is that Indian tradition does not always treat these differences as contradictions. It sees the Ramayana as a vast living tradition, retold across texts, regions and cosmic ages.
