Book review: Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana 🔖📖

In my last blog, I mentioned about Devdutt Pattanaik's book Jaya, how, when it comes to mythology, Devdutt never disappoints. After reading Jaya, I was very sure about his another book Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana, would also be something special. And once again, he is brilliant in what he does, taking a story we all know and telling it in his own way.

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The Ramayana is neither the saga of Rama alone nor the recount of Sita’s life, but the latter’s love, strength, and survival that were hardly in the limelight. He emphasizes Sita’s strength instead of portraying her as a background figure.

Source:Chatgpt generated

I had grown up listening to these stories from my grandparents and watching them on television. I’ll be honest, as a kid, I did not see how much Sita’s silence communicated. When I read Sita as an adult, it felt like seeing the strength of her from a totally different perspective. She is not the one who suffers silently but chooses her own way with quiet confidence. Her patience, her keeping her honor, and her power of forgiveness are not vulnerabilities; they are her strengths.

Similar to Jaya, every story here finishes with Pattanaik’s notes.

If you ever felt the Ramayana was too complicated or too far away, Sita is the book that will take you there. The story is quite understandable, full of wisdom, and very relatable.

Certainly, like in Jaya, the book is also filled with the drawings of Pattanaik very simple

People who like mythology would still find Sita interesting if it were just a retelling of the Ramayana. It is not just a recount; rather, it makes you experience it.

Thank me later :)