An Indian Odyssey

Myth, travelogue, and holy writ, the_Ramayana_—the Journey of Rama—is India’s best-loved book, an inspiration to schoolchildren, monks, and movie-makers. It’s one of the world’s great epic tales, yet is largely unread in the Western world. The story of a man searching savage jungles for his kidnapped wife, the Ramayana combines_Heart of Darkness_with the_Odyssey_. And bizarrely, this violent and erotic account of a war between light and dark is at the heart of the fiercest controversy in contemporary Indian politics—one that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. When Martin Buckley first encountered the_Ramayana_ 25 years ago, it became a guide to the complexities of Indian life. Here, he fulfills a dream—to retrace the route of Rama from his birthplace in north India to the climax of his confrontation with Evil in Sri Lanka. A cast of mystics and Marxists, idealists and cynics—Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist—lays out the rich fabric of contemporary India and Sri Lanka, illuminated by the remarkable story of their past—and the quest of a man to rescue the woman he loves.