Baal Kand

King Nemi rules over Ayodhya with his three wives Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. When the asura Sambrasur causes trouble on Earth, the gods request Nemi's assistance in battle against him. He is accompanied by Kaikeyi, who notices mid-battle that one of his chariot wheels is loose, due to the bolt holding the wheel in place having slipped out. She inserts her finger into the hole of the bolt, keeping the wheel stable, despite great pain. The battle ends in a victory for Nemi, who is recognized for his ability to turn his chariot swiftly in all ten directions, and thus given the name Dasharatha. Grateful for Kaikeyi's role in his victory he grants her two boons, but she chooses to save them as she is content in life. Sometime later Dasharatha goes hunting and hears some gurgling nearby. Mistaking the source to be an elephant, he releases his arrow in its direction only for it to hit a young man, Shravana who was fetching water for his blind parents. Wracked with guilt, Dasharatha informs Shravana's parents of his death and confesses to having killed him, albeit unintentionally. Having lost their only support, Shravana's parents die of grief. With his dying breath, Shravana's father curses Dasharath that he too will be separated from his beloved son, which will ultimately be the reason for his death. Dasharatha confides in his guru Vashishtha who sees this curse as a boon as it implies that the childless Dasharatha will one day have a son. Dasharatha performs the Putrakàmèsti yagna, from which he receives a divine bowl of payasam that he splits among his wives. Soon Kaushalya gives birth to Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharata, and Sumitra gives birth to twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. When the princes get a bit older, Dasharatha sends them off to Guru Vashishtha's ashram for formal education.

When Mithila suffers from a drought for twelve years, its childless king Janak builds a golden plough and unearths a baby girl as he begins to plough. The baby's first cry leads to rainfall. Rishi Yagyavalkya suggests that Janak keep the baby and so he names her Sita. Soon after, Janak and his wife have another daughter they name her as Urmila. Janak's younger brother Kushadhwaja also has two daughters Mandavi and Shrutakirti. While playing with her sisters, Sita lifts the Shiv Dhanush, a task that is said to be impossible. Having witnesses this, Janaka decides that he will only give Sita's hand in marriage to the man that can perform the same feat

Few years later

Rama and his brothers grow up and return to Ayodha upon the completion of their education. Guru Vishvamitra takes Ram and Lakshman from Ayodhya to destroy the demoness queen Tataka. Soon Taraka and her son Subahu are killed by Rama and Lakshman, but Rama spares her son Maricha, who vows to give up his evil ways. Guru Vishvamitra tells him that he wants to take both of them to Mithila and seek the blessings of Shiv Dhanush. While traveling to Mithila, he sees Rishi Gautam and Ahilya's ashram and relieves her of the curse that had turned her to stone. Ram comes to Mithila, and they meet for the first time at the Parvati temple. Soon after, Sita's Swayamvar is announced. In the Swayamvara, nobody can lift the Shiv Dhanush except Ram. Ram's marriage is fixed with Sita. Later, Lakshman and Urmila have a meeting, in which he thinks she is touching his feet but she clears his doubt that she was just picking up flowers that she and Sita like, Lakshman says one should not gift flowers to someone from the ground, he later pluck a bouquet and gives it to her they share a glance. King Dashratha arrives with Vashistha and meets King Janak and his family, Vashistha notices Lakshman and Urmila glancing at each other guessing they love each other later he requests King Janak to marry Urmila to Lakshman, Mandavi to Bharat, and Shatrughan to Shrutakirti. Ram asks Lakshman if he is happy with the marriage Lakshman just smiles and glances at Urmila and shyly replies a yes to Ram, Sita asks the same to Urmila and she replies that sita did the puja and she got the reward too. Later all four marriages happen.

Ayodha Kand

Ram, Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrughna reach Ayodhya with their brides. Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra welcome them. Kaikeyi's maid Manthara tries to turn Kaikeyi against Ram and tells her that Bharat and Mandavi will have to live as slaves to Ram and Sita. In a state of concern, Kaikeyi sends Bharat and Shatrughna off to her maternal home Kekeya to receive further education from his uncle. Shortly after Dasharatha decides to retire and publicly announces that Ram will be crowned King. When Kaikeyi finds out, she believes that Dasharatha waited for Bharata to leave so Ram could be made King without any opposition. Under Manthara's influence, she calls him to her chamber and finally demands her two boons, the first for Bharata to be crowned King instead of Ram, and the second for Rama to be exiled to the forest for 14 years. A horrified Dasharatha refuses to grant either boon, but Ram upon learning of this decides to take up the exile, both to pacify his mother and to honour his father's word. Lakshman and Sita choose to go with him, but Lakshman forbids Urmila from going, stating that he intends to devote all his time to serving Rama and Sita and will not be able to pay any attention to her. Urmila understands but still wishes to aid her husband in his duty, so she falls into a deep sleep for the next 14 years, so Lakshman can stay awake and protect Ram and Sita without falling asleep. As Ram, Sita, and Lakshman leave the palace, the people of Ayodhya plead with Ram to not go, but he requests them to treat Bharata with respect and help him be a capable king, before heading off to the forest. When Dashratha is told that Ram is gone for good, he is devastated and ultimately dies of grief. Bharata and Shatrughna return with their wives and are treated with hostility by the people of Ayodhya. When Bharata meets Kaikeyi, she informs him of Dasharatha's death and her plan to make him King. To her shock, Bharata is disgusted and holds her responsible for his father's death, promptly disowning her. He heads into the Dandaka forest and is reunited with Ram, but despite his best efforts Ram refuses to return until 14 years have passed, and instead encourages him to take care of Ayodhya and its people as the new king. Bharata manages to acquire Ram's sandals which he installs on the throne of Ayodhya to represent Ram's status as the true king, and decides to stay in the village of Nandigram, ruling over Ayodhya as a regent until Rama returns.

Meanwhile, Hanuman, an ardent devotee of Ram, and minster of King Sugriva of Kishkindha builds a statue of Ram in and sings his praises daily, strongly believing that they will meet someday. Sugriva is ousted from his kingdom by his older brother Vali due to a misunderstanding. Hanuman saves him and takes him to Rishyamukha mountain, where Vali cannot enter due to a curse. Vali swears to kill him if he ever comes back and forcefully takes Sugriva's wife Ruma for his own.

Aranya Kand

Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita spend 13 years living in the Dandaka forest, where they meet various sages and the brothers vanquish demons that have been tormenting them. This comes to the attention of demon brothers Khar and Dushan who have dominion over Dandaka. Their nephew Shambukha, son of their cousin Shurpanakha leads an army to kill the brothers but is forced to flee when they are overpowered. He comes across Sita and spies on her as she is collecting water from a pond but is ultimately killed by Lakshman. Having heard no news of her son, Shurpanakha goes to Danadaka to search for him and comes across the cottage where Ram, Sita, and Lakshman live. She is instantly smitten by Ram and approaches him with a marriage proposal. Ram is devoted solely to Sita and politely rejects her proposal, so Shurpanka approaches Lakshman, who also rejects her. Having been denied by both brothers, an angry Shurpanka tries to kill Sita but is stopped by Lakshmana, who cuts off her nose and ear. She runs off screaming and finds Shambukha's severed head in the pond. Swearing revenge, she goes to Khara and Dushana, who descend upon Dandaka with their army of 14000 demons, only to be singlehandedly killed by Rama in battle. Shurpanakha, the sole survivor flees to the kingdom of Lanka which is ruled by her brother, the powerful demon king Ravana. Upon hearing of Sita's beauty from Shurpanaka, he decided to take her for himself. He arrives at Dandaka with his Tataka's son Maricha, who turns into a golden deer to lure Sita. Captivated, Sita asks Rama to bring her the deer so she can keep it as a pet. Rama chases it into the forest and shoots it down, but Maricha calls out to Lakshmana and Sita with his dying breath. Sita insists that Lakshmana go help Rama, who draws a protective line around the cottage and asks Sita not to cross it, before running off into the woods. Now alone, Sita is approached by Ravana in the guise of a sage begging for alms. He demands that she step over the line to bring him food, and Sita, not wanting to insult a sage, complies, only for Ravana to assume his true form and immediately abduct her. The vulture Jatayu, an old friend of Dasharatha's tries to rescue Sita, but gets his wing chopped off by Ravana. Rama and Lakshmana return to the cottage and realize that Sita is in trouble when they don't find her there. They start looking for her and come across the injured Jatayu who tells them about Ravana, before dying in Rama's arms. As they continue their search, they are attacked by the demon Kabandha, really a gandharva under a curse. When Rama kills him, the curse breaks and he tells the brothers that Ravana has headed south and that they should seek out Sugriva at Rishyamukha mountain. He directs them toward the ascetic Shabari who can guide them towards Rishyamukha. In her youth, Shabari had been told by her guru Sage Matanga that Lord Vishnu would come to her hut in the form of Rama and she has been waiting for him ever since. When Rama and Lakshmana arrive at Shabari's hut, she serves them with great love and devotion and then tells them how to get to Sugriva. Having fulfilled her life's mission, she blesses Rama and departs from the world.

Kishkindha Kand

Main

• Sujay Reu as Rama / Lord Vishnu - Vishnu's 7th incarnation; Dasharatha and Kaushalya's son; Bharat, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's elder brother; Sita's husband
  • Tanmay Shah as Young Rama
• Prachi Bansal as Sita / Devi Lakshmi - Lakshmi's incarnation; Janak and Sunaina's elder daughter; Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakirti's sister; Rama's wife
  • Hansika Jangid as Young Sita
• Basant Bhatt as Lakshmana - Sheshanaga's incarnation; Dasharatha and Sumitra's elder son; Rama, Bharata and Shatrughna's brother; Urmila's husband
  • Subhan Khan as Young Lakshman
• Nikitin Dheer as Ravana - King of Lanka; Vishrava and Kaikasi's eldest son; Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's brother; Mandodari's husband; Meghanada and Akshayakumara's father
  • Athar Khan as Young Ravan
• Nirbhay Wadhwa as Hanuman - Lord Vayu's son; Kesari and Anjana's son; Rama's devotee
  • Karim Qureshi as Young Hanuman

Recurring

• Nikhilesh Rathore as Bharata - Shankha's incarnation; Dasharatha and Kaikeyi's son; Ram, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's brother; Mandavi's husband
  • Hassan Syed as Young Bharata
• Samarthya Gupta as Shatrughna - Sudarshana's incarnation; Dasharatha and Sumitra's younger son; Rama, Bharata and Lakshmana's brother; Shrutakirti's husband.
  • Shabd Grover as Young Shatrughna
• Aarav Chowdhary as Dasharatha - King of Ayodhya; Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra's husband; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's father
• Anandi Tripathi as Kaushalya - Dasharatha's first wife; Rama's mother
• Shilpa Saklani as Kaikeyi - Dasharatha's second wife; Bharata's mother
• Bhawna Aneja as Sumitra - Dasharatha's third wife; Lakshmana and Shatrughna's mother
• Vaidehi Nair as Urmila - Nagalakshmi's incarnation; Janak and Sunaina's younger daughter; Sita, Mandavi and Shrutakirti's sister; Lakshmana's wife
  • Purvi Mishra as Young Urmila
• Sheersha Tiwari as Mandavi - Lakshmi shankh's incarnation; Kushadhvaj and Chandrabhaga's elder daughter; Sita, Urmila and Shrutakirti's sister; Bharata's wife
  • Dhwani Buch as Young Mandavi
• Siddhi Sharma as Shrutakirti - Lakshmi chakra's incarnation; Kushadhvaj and Chandrabhaga's younger daughter; Sita, Mandavi and Urmila sister; Shatrughna's wife
  • Dhivija Arora as Young Shrutakirti
• Jiten Lalwani as Janaka - King of Mithila; Kushadhvaja's brother; Sunaina's husband; Sita and Urmila's father
• Via Roy Chaudhary as Sunayana - Janaka's wife; Sita and Urmila's mother
• Rushiraj Pawar as Meghanada - Ravana and Mandodari's son; Akshayakumara's brother; Sulochana's husband
• Gurpreet Bedi / Harleen Rekhi as Mandodari - Mayasura and Hema's daughter; Ravana's wife; Meghanada and Akshayakumara's mother
• Kunal Bakshi as Vibhishana - Vishrava and Kaikasi's third son; Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Shurpanakha's brother
• Sangeeta Odwani as Shurpanakha - Vishrava and Kaikasi's daughter; Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana's sister; Vidyutjiva's widow
• Nishkarsh Dixit as Young Kumbhakarna
• Malhar Pandya as
  • Sugriva - King of Kishkindha; Vali's younger twin brother; Ruma and Tara's husband
  • Vali - King of Kishkindha; Sugriva elder twin's brother; Tara's husband; Angada's father
• Tarun Sharma as
  • Jatayu - Shyeni and Aruna's younger son; Sampati's brother
  • Jambavanta - Rama's devotee; Jambavati's father
• Tarun Khanna as Lord Shiva - Parvati's husband
• Aishwarya Raj Bhakuni as Devi Parvati - Shiva's wife
• Snehal Waghmare as Tara - Vali and Sugriva's wife; Angad's mother
• Meghna Panchal as Ruma - Sugriva and Vali's wife
• Geeta Khanna as Manthara - Kaikeyi's maid
• Surendra Pal as Vasishtha - Family priest of Ayodhya; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's teacher
• Vishnu Sharma as Vishvamitra - Rama and Lakshmana's teacher
• Dhananjay Singh as Sumantra - Dasharatha's minister
• Yogesh Mahajan as Shatananda - Gautama Maharishi and Ahalya's son; Janaka's advisor
• Manish Khanna as Jabali - Dasharatha's advisor
• Jameel Chaudhary as Kesari - Brihaspati's son; Anjana's husband; Hanuman's father
• Kinjal Pandya as Anjana - Kesari's wife; Hanuman's mother
• Mrinal Shrivastav as Shabari - Rama's devotee; Matanga's student
• Deepak Bhatia as Parashurama - Vishnu's 6th incarnation; Jamadagni and Renuka’s son; Shiva’s disciple
• Garima Jain as Ahalya - Gautama Maharishi's wife; Shatananda's mother
• Arun Singh as Atri - Anasuya's husband; Rama's guide; One of the Saptarshis
• Sampada Vaze as Anasuya - Atri's wife
• Sandeep Arora as Nala - Vishwakarma's son; Nila's brother
• Nitin Parashar as Nila - Vishwakarma's son; Nala's brother
• Meenakshi Sethi as Gargi - Vachaknu's daughter
• Raja Kapse as Kakabhushundi - Rama's devotee
• Brownie Parashar as Shukracharya - Meghanada's teacher
• Kamaljeet Rana as Khara - Dushana's twin brother; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's step-brother
• Arjun Kumar as Vidyutjiva - Shurpanakha's husband
• Devish Ahuja as Shambuka - Shurpanakha and Vidyutjiva's son
• Neetu Pandey as Kaikasi - Vishrava's wife; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's mother
• Ansha Sayed as Tataka - Sunda's wife; Marich and Subhau's mother
• Satendra Yadav as Subahu - Sunda and Tataka's son; Marich's brother
• Mohammed Saud Suri as Shravana Kumara - Shantanu and Gyanvanti's son
• Govind Namdeo as Lord Brahma
• Shreya Khanna as Saraswati - Goddess of Knowledge; Brahma's wife
• Meer Ali as Indra - King of Devas; Jayanta's father
• Gaurav Sharma as Jayanta - Indra's son
• Bharat Bhatia as Kubera - God of Wealth; Vishrava and Ilavida's son; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's step-brother
• Sharma M Shishir as Shani - God of Karma
• Sandeep Sharma as Narada - Messenger of the Devas

Development

Siddharth Kumar Tewary announced Shrimad Ramayan, that is produced under his banner Swastik Productions in August 2023. It is an adaptation of the epic Ramayana, and is based on Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas.^[5][6] In December 2023, Tewary stated that criticism to film Adipurush, was one of the reason to make the show. He added,

Honestly, I like the fact that audiences are sensitive towards the history of our country. It defines our history, culture and even our country. There is a reason why someone would get offended. And it's not my intention to offend anyone. I want them to come together and celebrate it with me. I have a proper research team and everything that's going out, every word about this show is properly vetted. So if anyone raises a question tomorrow, we have an authentic source that we can count on.^[7]

Casting

Sujay Reu and Prachi Bansal were cast as Rama and Sita respectively.^[8][9] The series marks Reu's third and Bansal's second project with the production house.^[10][11] Basant Bhatt and Vaidehi Nair were cast as Lakshmana and Urmila.^[12][13] Nirbhay Wadhwa was cast as Hanuman, in his fourth on-screen portrayal of the character.^[14]

In October 2023, Nikitin Dheer joined the cast as Ravana, marking his television comeback after 5 year.^[15] Aarav Chowdhary was cast as Dashratha.^[16] Nikhilesh Rathore was then cast as Bharata^[17] and Samarthya Gupta was cast as Shatrughna.^[18] Later, Anandi Tripathi was cast as Kaushalya, Bhawna Aneja as Sumitra and Shilpa Saklani as Kaikeyi.^[19][20] Neetu Pandey was cast as Kaikasi.^[21]

In January 2024, Gurpreet Bedi was cast to play Mandodari and Garima Jain was cast to play Ahalya.^[22] Arjun Kumar was cast to play Vidyutjiva.^[23] In February 2024, Rushiraj Pawar was cast to play Meghanada.^[24] In March 2024, Malhar Pandya was cast in the dual role of brothers Sugriva and Vali.^[25]

Design

The series set covering 10 acres of land in Umargam, Valsad, Gujarat, is designed by art director Omung Kumar.^[26] Costume designer of the series is Shibapriya Sen. Sita's wedding look included 15kg lehenga and 15meter long head trail. The hand-made embroidery took 3 days and 18 hours, with the entire lehenga taking 5 days to complete. Sen added,

Designing Sita's wedding look was ethereal, where femininity met divinity. It was a blessing to design the wedding looks for Prabhu Shri Ram and Mata Sita. The costumes and accessories were heavy, but the actors embraced it. We've maintained the sanctity of the occasion through traditional craftsmanship.^[27]

Filming

Shrimad Ramayan is mainly shot in Umargam in Gujarat and has a high production and VFX value.^[28][29]

Release

The teaser of Shrimad Ramayan, was released in August 2023.^[30] The series premiered on 1 January 2024 on Sony Entertainment Television, replacing Kaun Banega Crorepati in its timeslot.^[31] The team of Shrimad Ramayan also visited Ayodhya, before the launch.^[32]