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Welcome to Religions of the World. Hinduism: The Religion of Hindus.

Ravi is eight years old. He lives in Leicester with his parents and his big sister, Deepa. Ravi and his family are Hindus. They follow the Hindu religion. Every autumn, Ravi and his family celebrate one of the biggest festivals; the Festival of Light: Divali.

This year, Ravi’s uncle Nemal and auntie Shima, have travelled all the way from India to come and celebrate Divali with the family in the UK. A few days before Divali, Ravi walked to school with his uncle Nemal and auntie Shima.

“Auntie Shima, why do we celebrate Divali?” asked Ravi.” That’s a good question,” said Auntie Shima, “There are lots of different tales about Divali but one of the main stories is the Story of Rama and Sita.” “Can you tell me the story?” asked Ravi. “Of course I can,” said Auntie Shima.

The Hindu Story of Rama and Sita. Long ago, there was a great warrior prince called Rama, who was married to a beautiful and strong woman called Princess Sita. There was a terrible demon king who lived nearby called Ravana. He had 20 arms and 10 heads, and everyone was frightened of him. He wanted to make Sita his wife.

So Ravana tricked Sita by appearing as a wounded deer. Sita asked her husband, Rama, to come and help the deer but the deer disappeared into the forest. Seeing how worried Sita was about the poorly animal, Rama decided to go and find the deer, not realising it was actually the evil Ravana. But Rama was worried about leaving Sita alone in the forest so he drew a magic circle around her to keep her safe.

As Rama was looking for the wounded deer, the evil demon Ravana changed shape again. He turned from the deer into a thirsty beggar. He tempted Sita out of the magic circle by begging for water. Sita, being so kind, stepped out of the magic circle, away from safety.

Ravana kidnapped her and carried her away in his mighty flying chariot. Meanwhile, unable to find the deer, Rama returned to the magic circle only to find that his wife, Sita, had been kidnapped. So he set off to rescue her. He travelled through a forest where he met the monkey king, Hanuman. Hanuman and Rama became great friends and Hanuman agreed to help Rama find Sita.

Hanuman searched for Sita over many days and nights. He travelled across oceans and over mountains. Eventually, Hanuman found Sita in Ravana’s prison on the Island of Lanca. Hanuman took the news of his discovery back to Rama and they gathered a huge monkey army to go to Sita’s rescue, but how could they all travel across the water to the island together?

Hanuman had a great idea. He called all the monkeys from his army to help. They made a huge bridge from their own bodies that stretched all the way across the water to the island. Once the bridge was finished, Rama, Hanuman and all the other animals rushed across to fight the evil demon Ravana.

There was a great battle; one of the greatest battles ever seen, that lasted for ten days. It looked as though Ravana was going to win until Rama saw the perfect chance to use the magic arrow he’d been given by the gods. He shot the evil demon, Ravana, with a magic arrow and killed him.

The demon king, Ravana, was beaten. The battle was won and Rama and Sita were finally reunited. They started the journey home. As night fell, all of the people who lived in the kingdom put out little oil lamps in their windows to help guide Rama and Sita back home. It seemed as though there were more lamps than there were stars in the sky.

Rama and Sita arrived home and everyone celebrated that they were safe. Uncle Nemal, Auntie Shima and Ravi arrived at the school gates. Auntie Shima explained, “Now every year in the autumn, people light lamps in their homes and set off fireworks outside. They remember the story of Rama and Sita, and they tell each other that light triumphs over dark, and that good triumphs over evil.”

“What a great story,” said Ravi. “It is!” said Auntie Shima. “It’s why Divali is also called the Festival of Lights.” “I’m going to tell all my friends,” said Ravi. “That’s a good idea,” said Auntie Shima. “Have a good day at school.” Ravi hurried into school, excited to tell his friends the story of Rama and Sita.