Click to play videoNew Delhi: When DMK supremo M Karunanidhi demanded proof about the engineer called 'Raman' who built Ram Setu, was he just reasserting the antipathy that Dravidian politics has towards all things Aryan?
For the anti-Brahmanical movement that the DMK stalwarts EVR 'Periyar' Naicker and Annadurai DMK once led, it is Ravana who holds a higher pedestal. But is it all now just a political gimmick?
Says HT Religion & Culture Editor, Renuka Narayanan, "Not at all. It is just a DMK gimmick. How can Ravan be revered? Are there any Ravan temples in the south?"
There are approximately over 300 versions of Ramayan and the one originally written by Valmiki in Sanskrit has been reinterpreted a number of times.
"The Ramayan is like a flowing river. Any person can mould it according to his or her beliefs," says Narayanan.
While Tulsidas's Ramcharitmans is popular in the north, in Tamil Nadu, the Kamba Ramayan holds sway.
Says Narayanan, "In the Kamban Ramayana, Ravan is portrayed as a heroic figure."
Both Ram and Ravana have often been treated differently and the fact that there are more than 300 versions of this epic just shows how open it is to re-interpretation.
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