The Monkey's Bridge a Hindu Tale of Faith

The Monkey’s Bridge A Hindu Tale of Faith Listen. Here is a Hindu tale of how, many years ago, the animals helped Prince Rama rescue his beloved wife Sita. It is a tale of courage and of strength, but most of all, it is a tale of unity, loyalty and friendship. Through no fault of their own, Rama and Sita and been banished to the forests of north India, to the land of the monkeys. They could have whined and complained, but instead, they made lots of animal friends. Rama’s brother, Lakshman, was also there with them. All of the animals loved the gentle princess Sita and looked to Rama and Lakshman for protection. Life was pretty good. One day, a strange woman came to their door. She loved Rama and wanted him for herself. But Rama loved Sita, and paid no attention to the woman. The woman happened to be the sister of Ravana, the ten-headed and twenty armed demon-king. She asked Ravana to kill Rama and he could have Sita for his wife. Ravana liked this idea very much. Ravana went to work on a plan. He turned one of his demons into a golden deer with jeweled antlers and sent it to a river bank where Sita often walked. Sita fell in love with the enchanted deer and yearned to have it for her own. So she returned to her cottage and asked Rama to catch the deer for her. Rama and lakshman quickly left to capture the golden deer. Once Rama was gone, Ravana dressed as a holy man in a ragged robe. He came close to Sita and asked for water. Sita filled a cup and took it to the old man. Ravana threw off his disguise and grabbed her. He carried her off in a golden chariot drawn by winged donkeys. Jataya, a giant bird witnessed this and tried to stop Ravana. But Jataya no match for the 10 headed, 20 armed demon king. When Rama and Lakshman returned, Jataya told them what happened. They saw they had been tricked and that Sita had been stolen away. Rama was distressed, “How can we find her?” Lakshman tried to comfort his brother, “This is the Land of the Monkeys, we will ask them for help.” Fearful for Sita’s safety, they both hurried to Sugriva, the king of the monkeys. “Help us find Sita and rescue her!” The monkey king knew of the goodness and power of Rama and Sita, so he called his ten thousand monkeys. “Swing from vines, climb the mountains, go as far as the ocean. We must find Sita.” It was Hanuman, the monkey king’s messenger, who found Sita on Ravana’s green island. Sita was overjoyed to see Hanuman and gave him a jewel to bring to Rama. But when Hanuman went to leave, he was seen and a demon lit a fire on Hanuman’s monkey tail. Hanuman hopped madly trying to put out the fire, spreading fire all over Ravana’s island. But Hanuman did not burn: Sita’s prayers protected Hanuman and he escaped to tell Rama and Sugriva his story. The Monkey’s Bridge A Hindu Tale of Faith Rama, Lakshman, Sugriva, Hanuman and the ten thousand monkeys raced to the ocean. How could Rama get to the island to rescue Sita? Rama was so frustrated, he shot his arrow into the ocean. Seeing this, the 10,000 monkeys joined together with all of the other animal friends and tossed boulders and trees into the water to build a giant bridge for Rama. Ravana, the ten-headed, 20 armed demon, became afraid and hurried to escape in his golden chariot. But his escape was not successful and instead, Rama captured the chariot and Sita and Rama rode back to the Land of the Monkeys in Ravana’s golden chariot. (adapted from “Sacred Myths, Stories of World Religions”, retold by Marilyn McFarlane) .

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