''Bhanubhakta Ramayana'' (), commonly known as ''Ramayan'', is the

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

translation of

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

by ''Adikavi''

Bhanubhakta Acharya Bhanubhakta Acharya () (1814—1868 CE) (1871—1925 BS) was a Nepali writer, poet, and translator. He is widely regarded as the first poet in the Nepali language, for which he was conferred with the title of "Aadikabi": literally, "the first po ...

. It was posthumously published in its complete form in 1887.
It is widely considered to be the first Nepali epic. The prose style of the epic has been termed ''Bhanubhaktiya Laya'' since it was completely original in Nepali literature, being the first work. Due to this distinction, the author, poet Bhanubhakta Acharya is known as ''Adikavi'' (first poet) in Nepal.

Background

The epic is considered to have been a major first step to "democratising" Hinduism in Nepal as it allowed the general public access to one of the two pillars of Hindu

Itihasa Itihasa () refers to the collection of written descriptions of important events in Hinduism. It includes the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Ramayana. The Mahabharata includes the story of the Kurukshetra War and preserves the traditions of ...

in their native language, diminishing the hegemony of learned Brahmin priests in the study and interpretation of sacred texts. On the other hand, many denounce the role the work played as an instrument to establishing the hegemony of the Nepali language and literature in Nepal at the expense of other indigenous languages.
The book and the poet is held in high regard in ethnic Nepali communities outside Nepal as well, especially in Darjeeling. This, the first Nepali epic, also established ''Shardulvikridit Chhanda'' as the most important and used

poetic meter In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set o ...

for

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian s ...

Development and publication history

Bhanubhakta Ramayana was translated mostly from Valmiki Ramayana with minor variations (without changing the story) in details introduced by Bhanubhakta himself. He had completed the translation of ''Balkanda'' chapter by 1844. ''Yuddhakanda'' and ''Uttarkanda'' had been translated by 1853. Bhanubhakta died in 1869. The ''

Balakanda ''Bala Kanda'' ( sa, बालकाण्ड; IAST: ', ) is the first book of the Valmiki ''Ramayana'', which is one of the two great epics of India (the other being the ''Mahabharata''). There has been debate as to whether ''Bala Kanda'' was c ...

'' section was published by

Motiram Bhatta Motiram Bhatta ( ne, मोतीराम भट्ट) (1866–1896) (1923–1953 BS) was a Nepalese poet, singer, essayist, publisher, literary critic and biographer. He is considered the first biographer and literary critic of Nepali litera ...

in 1884 and the complete Bhanubhakta Ramayana was published in 1887.

Adaptations

The book has been translated into many other languages, including English. The audio tapes of the epic were also broadcast as part of the early morning religious broadcast by

Radio Nepal Radio Nepal ( ne, रेडियो नेपाल) is the state-owned Radio broadcasting organisation of Nepal. It was established 2 April 1951. Radio Nepal airs programs on short wave, medium wave ( AM) and FM frequencies. Regular broadcasts ...

in the 1990s. Music Nepal also released audio cassettes of the recital around the same time.
Various excerpts from the epic are regarded as valuable short poems on their own, and have been included in various textbooks of Nepali language and literature.

References

{{Authority control Nepalese poems Works based on the Ramayana 19th-century books Translations Religious bibliographies Books about spirituality Nepalese books Nepalese religious texts 1887 books 19th-century Nepalese books

Background

Development and publication history

Adaptations

See also

References