Storybook Plan

I think for my storybook I am going to make it animals of Africa-ish themed and try to retell stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata but using different animals that you would find in Africa. I think by doing this maybe I think I would use the stories that include the celestial weapons in them. These stories would come from the Ramayana. As far as perspective I think I am going to use a third person omniscient story teller, maybe like Rafiki from The Lion King type deal. I'm not exactly sure what main lessons I want my stories to have. I think that I will write them like those little stories that you read when you're kids where each story has its own little life lesson.

Assorted animals of Africa

Source

Topic Research: The Weapons of the Ramayana

 

The weapons of the Ramayana that I have encountered so far have really fallen into two categories. These are the "mortal weapons" like the bow and arrow that was used or "celestial weapons" that the gods used. Whenever times get really tough Rama seems to draw upon a celestial weapon to do a lot of damage.

When looking more into these celestial weapons I learned that each deity has a different celestial weapon that they are associated with. Here are three examples of this.

The Trishula: The trishula is a trident that is wielded by Shiva the Destroyer and is said that it can not be stopped by anybody but Shiva himself.

The Manavastra: This weapon is commonly wielded by Manu and was used by Sri Rama on the demon Maricha. We have already seen Maricha in theses epics taking the form of a golden deer to lure Rama out of hiding.

The Gada: The gada is a mace that Hanuman carries. This weapon is particularly interesting to me as it is one of the most recognizable weapons in Hinduism. You see it in basically every picture of Hanuman, resting on his shoulder. Interestingly, I never actually knew what it was called but the word "Gada" in Telugu, the language I speak basically means lump so I thought this was a fun little connection. 

Lord Hanuman with his mace

Source: Flickr

Topic Brainstorm

The Gods: There are so many different gods in the Hindu culture I think it would be interesting to learn more about a couple and what they represent. I have a little previous knowledge on the subject as my mother is very religious and I go to the Hindu temple decently frequently with her when I am back in my hometown of St. Louis. However,  I have never really taken the time to learn about everything in there and I think this would be a good chance in order to actually learn more.

Weapons of the Gods: I've always been interested in ancient conflicts as times were so much different back then that the conflict resolutions aren't as applicable anymore. Sometimes this conflict was resolved through war or physical violence. I think it would be interesting to learn more about these conflicts and the weapons used in them. These weapons could be both physical weapons like spears and axes and what not but I'm sure there are other supernatural weapons used like being able to summon storms and things like that.

Animal Characters of the Ramayana: I have been very interested in animals my whole life. Animals also always play a huge part in stories all over the world. I think it would be interesting to look at the similarities and differences that animals play in the Hindu epics as compared to something like the Bible. I have a little previous knowledge about this as I know that in Hinduism, most gods have an animal associated with them as their vessel. I'm not sure if there are similar things in other religions but that might be something interesting to look into.

Food: I love food. Most people love food. I took a class last year called Diet in the Mediterranean, which I have mentioned before, that delved very deeply into what exactly food can tell us about a religion, place, or people. Taking this knowledge into the Hindu epics would be a good way to tie together different classes.

Some statues of Hindu Gods

Flickr