Ramayan: Kands, Characters and Stories

What Ramayan means

Valmiki's Ramayan has about 24,000 verses in seven kands.

Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas brought it to every Hindi speaking home.

Dussehra and Diwali both come from the Ramayan.

How to read and keep Ramayan

Here is the simple traditional way families approach Ramayan, step by step, so you can follow it at home without pressure.

1. Bathe and wear clean clothes
2. Light a lamp and sit facing east or north
3. Remember Ganesha first
4. Read or hear the story with attention
5. Offer a simple prasad and share it

Ramayan ki seekh

Ramayan humein sikhati hai ki vachan nibhana, parivar ka samman karna aur dharma ke raste par chalna sabse bada kartavya hai. Ram, Sita, Lakshman aur Hanuman har ghar mein aadarsh hain.

People phrase it many ways: ramayan story, ramayan me kitne kand hai, ramayan kisne likhi, ramayan characters. All of these point to the same reading, and this page answers them together.

What you may be feeling about ramayan

If you came to ramayan hoping for good news, that hope deserves respect. Maybe you came here because a festival or a vrat is near and you want it to go well for your family. Wanting a sign that life is about to open up is one of the oldest and most human feelings there is, and it is the reason families have looked at the sky for thousands of years.

If ramayan is making you uneasy, that is valid too. Or maybe you are worried that you will do something wrong, miss a step, or that a difficulty at home means the gods are unhappy. You are not being silly or superstitious. When a word like this enters a family conversation, it is natural for the heart to tighten and for the mind to ask what it means for the people you love.

Our tradition takes both feelings seriously. Our stories are full of people who felt exactly this, from Savitri at Yama's side to Prahlad in the fire, and the texts honour their feelings before they show the way. So whatever you are feeling right now, our elders felt it too and wrote about it.

The same tradition then softens the first reaction. Every one of these stories ends in grace. Tradition itself says that a sincere heart completes any ritual, and that a missed step done with love is never punished. A single factor in a chart, a calendar or a name describes a theme to work with, not a sentence that is already written. Effort, timing, good company and a calm mind shape how it unfolds.

So hold the feeling gently, and then look at the whole picture. That is where one word turns into a clear, hopeful direction, and it is exactly what a personal reading is for.

Why ramayan still matter

Valmiki's Ramayan has about 24,000 verses in seven kands.

Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas brought it to every Hindi speaking home.

Dussehra and Diwali both come from the Ramayan.

• Bal Kand: the first kand of the Ramayan: Ram's birth, childhood and marriage to Sita.
• Ayodhya Kand: the second kand: Kaikeyi's boons, Ram's exile and Bharat's devotion.
• Aranya Kand: the third kand: forest years, Shurpanakha and the abduction of Sita.
• Kishkindha Kand: the fourth kand: Ram meets Hanuman and Sugriv, and the search for Sita begins.
• Sundar Kand: the fifth kand: Hanuman's leap to Lanka, meeting Sita and burning Lanka.
• Lanka Kand (Yuddha Kand): the sixth kand: the bridge, the war and Ravan's defeat.
• Uttar Kand: the seventh kand: Ram's rule, Ram Rajya, and the later life of Sita.
• Lord Ram: ram, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, is Maryada Purushottam, the ideal man.
• Mata Sita: sita, daughter of the earth and wife of Ram, is the model of courage and dignity.
• Lakshman: ram's younger brother who left everything to serve him.
• Bharat: ram's brother who refused the throne out of love.
• Shatrughan: the youngest brother, Lakshman's twin, who stood by Bharat.
• Hanuman in the Ramayan: hanuman, Ram's greatest devotee, symbol of strength, wisdom and service.
• Ravan: the ten headed king of Lanka, a great scholar and Shiva devotee undone by pride.
• Vibhishan: ravan's brother who chose dharma over family loyalty.
• Kumbhakarna: ravan's giant brother who slept six months a year.
• Meghnad (Indrajit): ravan's son who once defeated Indra.
• Mandodari: ravan's wise wife, counted among the five pativratas.
• Shurpanakha: ravan's sister whose humiliation set off the war.
• Jatayu: the old vulture king who died trying to save Sita.
• Sugriv: the vanara king who became Ram's ally.
• Bali: sugriv's mighty brother, killed by Ram from behind a tree.
• Angad: bali's son and Ram's messenger to Ravan's court.
• Jambavan: the wise bear king who reminded Hanuman of his strength.
• Shabari: the tribal woman who waited years for Ram and offered him tasted berries.
• Ahalya: the wife of sage Gautama freed by Ram's touch.
• Kaikeyi: the queen whose boons sent Ram into exile.
• Manthara: kaikeyi's maid who planted the seed of exile.
• King Dasharath: ram's father, the king of Ayodhya who died of a broken heart.
• Kaushalya: ram's mother and Dasharath's chief queen.
• King Janak: sita's father, the philosopher king of Mithila.
• Urmila: lakshman's wife whose silent sacrifice lasted 14 years.
• Luv and Kush: the twin sons of Ram and Sita, raised in Valmiki's ashram.
• Maharishi Valmiki: the adi kavi, first poet, who wrote the Ramayan.
• Goswami Tulsidas: the poet of the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi.
• Ram Setu: the bridge the vanaras built from India to Lanka.
• Sanjeevani booti: the healing herb Hanuman brought for Lakshman.
• The golden deer: maricha's disguise that drew Ram away from Sita.
• Lakshman Rekha: the protective line Lakshman drew around Sita's hut.
• Ashok Vatika: the garden in Lanka where Sita was held.
• Sita's agni pariksha: the fire ordeal after the war, a scene that families still question.
• Sita swayamvar: the bow test at Janakpur where Ram won Sita.
• Ram's 14 year vanvas: the 14 years of exile that shaped Ram's life.
• Chitrakoot: the forest hill where Ram lived early in his exile and Bharat came to meet him.
• Panchavati: the forest of five banyans near Nashik where Sita was abducted.
• Ram Rajya: the ideal kingdom Ram ruled after returning.
• The final battle: the last duel between Ram and Ravan.
• Aditya Hridayam: the hymn to the Sun taught to Ram before the battle.
• Shravan Kumar: the devoted son killed by mistake by Dasharath.
• Nala and Nila: the vanara engineers who built Ram Setu.
• Trijata: the kind rakshasi who comforted Sita in Lanka.
• Kevat the boatman: the boatman who washed Ram's feet before taking him across the Ganga.
• Sage Vishvamitra: the king turned sage who taught Ram and Lakshman divine weapons.
• Sage Vashishtha: the family guru of the Raghu dynasty.
• Sage Agastya: the sage who gave Ram divine weapons and the Aditya Hridayam.
• The power of Ram naam: why Ram's name is chanted from birth to death.
• Sundar Kand path: why families read Sundar Kand on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
• How many kands are in the Ramayan?: the Ramayan has seven kands, from Bal Kand to Uttar Kand.
• Who wrote the Ramayan?: maharishi Valmiki wrote the Ramayan; Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas.
• Ramayan and Diwali: how the Ramayan gives Diwali its lamps.

Where ramayan leads on KismatAstro

This page gathers every Ramayan story on KismatAstro. Start with Bal Kand, Ayodhya Kand, Aranya Kand, then follow the links inside each story.

The war in Lanka ends on Dussehra, when Ravan's effigy burns across India. Twenty days later Ram returns to Ayodhya, and the lamps of Diwali are lit to welcome him. The whole story begins with love: read Ram and Sita's wedding, the marriage families still hold up as the ideal.

Stories like this are why families still look for a good day before a new step. You can see today's timings in the free free kundli (muft janam kundli), and plan ahead with Ram Navami 2027.

What the old texts and scholars say

Our retelling follows the Valmiki Ramayan and Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas. Versions differ by region and family, and every one of them is treated with respect here.

If you would like to read further, the Britannica entry on the Ramayana gives a clear, well sourced overview: Britannica entry on the Ramayana.

For a second view, see Hinduism portal on Wikisource, which keeps public domain translations.

A gentle seven day practice inspired by ramayan

You do not need a big ritual. These small steps keep the story alive in daily life, and none of them cost money.

1. Day 1: read the story once, slowly
2. Day 2: tell it to a child or an elder
3. Day 3: light a lamp at sunset
4. Day 4: give food or time to someone in need
5. Day 5: read the linked festival or vrat page
6. Day 6: sit quietly for five minutes with the deity's name
7. Day 7: note one lesson you will keep

Carrying Ramayan into your own life

Ramayan is not a test you can fail. It is a story that has comforted families for centuries, and it asks only for attention and a kind heart.

If something in it touched a hope or a worry in your own life, a marriage, a child, money or health, that is a good moment to look at your own chart calmly. The free kundli (muft janam kundli) shows it, and a personal written reading is there if you want more depth.