Sulochana () is a character featured in

Hindu literature Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

. She is the daughter of the king of the serpents,

Shesha Shesha (Sanskrit: शेष; ) , also known as Sheshanaga (Sanskrit: शेषनाग; ) or Adishesha (), is a serpentine demigod (Naga) and Nagaraja (King of all serpents), as well as a primordial being of creation in Hinduism. In the Puran ...

, and married to

Meghanada Meghanada (), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita , according to Hindu texts, was the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. He is a major character mention ...

(Indrajita), the eldest son of

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. He a ...

. Sulochana finds no mention in the

Valmiki 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 ...

, and appears in later versions of the epic.

Literature

In versions of the Ramayana, following the death of her husband, Sulochana received the head of her husband. She realised that Lakshmana was none other than her father

's incarnation. She was devotee of Rama. In the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Meghnad Badh Kavya, Prameela is said to be Indrajit's wife. Prameela is regarded to be another name of Sulochana.

In popular culture

Her story has been the basis of many films, including ''Sati Sulochana'' (1921) directed by G.V. Sane. a silent film, followed by ''

Sati Sulochana ''Sati Sulochana'' is a 1934 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Y. V. Rao. The film was released on 3 March 1934 and is the first talkie film in Kannada language.

'', 1934

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film was the first Kannada language talkie film, also ''Sati Sulochana (1961 film)'' in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

starring

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

. also in Hindi film 'Sati Naag Kanya' by Babubhai Mistri starring Vikram Gokhale and Jaishree Gadkar. ''The Ballad Of Sulochana'' is a favourite

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

women, sung in most families. Noted

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

scholar S. K. Ramarajan wrote a noted epyllion, ''Meganadham'', the tragedy of Indrajit, known for its characterisation of Indrajit's wife Sulochana. There is a prominent character named Sulochana

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conjun ...

in the video game ''

Cultist Simulator ''Cultist Simulator'' is a card-based simulation video game developed by indie studio Weather Factory and published by Humble Bundle. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux computer systems in May 2018, with mobile versions deve ...

''. Like the mythical Sulochana, this character is noted for her bright, alluring eyes and for her phlegmatic countenance.

References

External links

Valmiki Ramayana Book X. War in Ceylon (Lanka Kanda)
translated by

Ralph T. H. Griffith Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826–1906) was an English Indologist, a member of the Indian education service and among the first Europeans to translate the Vedas into English. He lived in the UK (Oxford) and in India (Benares and Nilgiris). ...

(1870–1874) * Characters in the Ramayana {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulochana (Ramayana)