Ramayana - the great epic by Saint Valmiki
Ramayana - the great epic was conceived and written by saint Valmiki. It is the great story of lord Rama who killed the demon Ravana. The story of Lord Rama is a long one and covers the events from the birth of Lord Rama, his exile to the forests, Ravana kidnapping Lord Rama's wife Sita, raising of army of monkeys and bears by Lord Rama, the war between lord Rama and Ravana, the killing of Ravana etc. The story is the fight between good and evil in which good wins.There are 24000 shlokas in Ramayana and the story is divided in 7 chapters - Balakanda, Ayodhyakand, Aranyakand, Kiskindhakand, Sundarkand, Yuddhakand, and Uttarkand.
It is mentioned in Hindu mythology that lord Brahma inspired and encouraged saint Valmiki for writing the Ramayana.
Later the great poet Tulsidas rewrote it by the name Ramcharitmanas in local dialect making it popular among the common masses. There are some subtle differences between Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas but the main framework is the same.
