I am planning on reading PDE Ramayana online for one reason because it is available online and has audio with it. I am really excited to learn about Indian religion and culture along with the epic stories, which made up this religion. While looking through the book, I found this image interesting and see how she is all dressed up and wearing beautiful jewelry. Addition to that, it looks like she is saving the kids from drowning into the river and for that reason she is known as a big figure in Indian culture. I took a religious class my sophomore year, but we covered all of the religions in one semester. So, did not get to learn a lot about Indian epic.
Isn't that a fabulous picture, Aysha? That is not a woman (although of course it does look like a mermaid at first!): that is the god Vishnu, and he takes different incarnations on earth to save the world over and over. His first incarnation was as a fish, Matsya, which is what you see there. Later on, he becomes incarnate as Rama, who is the hero of the Ramayana. His incarnations are called avatars; that word comes from India. If you are interested in Vishnu's incarnations, there is a great article here in Wikipedia: Vishnu's Avatars: Dashavatar. Vishnu is the most important god in the epics, but you will get to learn about the other famous gods too, like Shiva and Brahma. Enjoy!!!
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