Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. CONTENTS IX
3. PREFACE XI
4. A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION XIII
5. PART ONE. Larger Patterns
6. 1. Introduction: The Diversity of the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition 1
7. 2. Three Hundred Rāmāyaṇas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation 22
8. 3. Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma Jātaka, and Ramakien: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Buddhist Traditions 50
9. PART TWO. Tellings as Refashioning and Opposition
10. 4. The Mutilation of Śūrpaṇakhā 67
11. 5. Fire and Flood: The Testing of Sītā in Kampaṉ's Irāmāvatāram 89
12. 6. A Rāmāyaṇa of Their Own: Women's Oral Tradition in Telugu 114
13. 7. The Raja's New Clothes: Redressing Rāvaṇa in Meghanāiavaiha Kāvya 137
14. 8. Creating Conversations: The Rāma Story as Puppet Play in Kerala 156
15. PART THREE. Tellings as Commentary and Programs for Action
16. 9. E. V. Ramasami's Reading of the Rāmāyaṇa 175
17. 10. Rāmāyaṇa Exegesis in Teṉkalai Śrīvaișṇavism 202
18. 11. The Secret Life of Rāmcandra of Ayodhya 217
19. 12. Personalizing the Rāmāyaṇ: Rāmnāmīs and Their Use of the Rāmcaritmānas 235
20. CONTRIBUTORS 257
21. INDEX 261