The Forest of Enchantments

You will not get bored while reading this book I can tell that . A great book . Ramayana through the eyes of sita . The silent struggle of sita and other female characters mentioned in the book .

It's not just merely a love story shaded with the angst of the protagonist and the trials and tribulations on her part to prove her integrity, loyalty and honesty towards the love of her life. It is rather the story of love and the very many facets of it, embodied in the form of reluctance, control, hatred, desire, longing, unadulterated affection, human complexes and lastly forgiveness. Starting from the prologue, we find Sita, the protagonist, keen to express the story of not just her experiences, but also of the numerous other female characters who, although being substantially significant in their respective ways contributing to the then society, have been conveniently avoided by literateurs and historians of the patriarchal society resulting in being written about neglectfully, or perhaps having no mention of them at all almost as if they were inexistent. As the book progresses, we find the characters (both male and female) unfold themselves into complex people, yet being realistically relatable. While Sita's mother prepares her how to deal with every individual in the new home she is about to go into, she takes up this as a challenge, knowing that in order to be with the person she loves, this would be a very nominal price that she would have to pay, least realizing that all the while, her grooming up, the way her beloved bow had trained her would be needed much later at a time, when she would have to stay away from Ram. As we go deep into the book, the author magically transports us into the magical world of the Forest of Enchantments, where Sita makes her own sweet home bereft of all the luxuries of palace, devotes her time and care to her husband, falls in the unconditional love that she harboured for her husband and gives in to her desire for the golden deer, hurting the person she had hoped not to hurt ever, the person whom she loved possibly more than herself, eventually followed by her abduction by the demon king Ravan. Strange revelations such as Sita being Ravan and Mandodari's long lost daughter is also a chapter worthy of remembrance. Sita's portrayal as the story teller herself is achieved in its entirety. That being abducted by Ravan was perhaps not the most devastating thing happening to her is vividly elaborated in the future chapters where she is forced to confront situations that were worse than her nightmares. After the end of the Sitayan, there is this epilogue that is poignant, yet being overwhelmingly simple. The epilogue effortlessly brings tears to the eyes of the readers. That the fact she chose to live for the sake of her sons and she chose to die for the sake of her daughters is vividly described in the epilogue, beautifully detailed with every bit of emotion she possibly must have been through. The story of Ramayan has been told thousands of times before, and a hundred of them must have been from Sita's perspective, but this one is unique, and possibly the best. It is a book that needs to be taught in the schools. It is a book that needs to be read by not just women to feel the angst of Sita, but also by men to realize what it takes to love. It raises pertinent questions regarding duties of a true king to his subjects, why only every man should be heard in Ramrajya and not every woman. This should be there in every Bibliophile's collection. This happens to be the author's most loved book and the hard work behind it shows through very effortlessly. Simplicity of language makes it widely acceptable among the masses and it is not surprising that the book is soon going to be considered among the best sellers in fiction category in India. It is a must read.

When was the last time a book made you cry? Unless, I was PMSing pretty strongly, I found myself fighting back tears by the end of this one. The cover art is beautiful and does full justice to the narrative that is to follow. It depicts Sita sitting under the Ashoka tree that was to be her solace in her confinement and the palm leaf in her hands on which she is presumable writing her story. Reminiscent of the Kangra Miniature art form, which originated and is now struggling to survive in my home district was another reason to fall completely in love with this cover. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has presented to us Sitayana or the story of sita and what a job she has done with it. Its beautiful, its compelling and it is truly engrossing. At the end of this book, I felt peaceful - a word I have rarely, if ever, used in reference to a book. Divakaruni’s Sita is so much more than a woman scorned. She is indeed a queen. A Goddess. And the universal mother. The author does full justice to a woman who lost everything again and again and yet faced all her travails with dignity, drawing from reserves of knowledge that she had gleaned from people around her and choosing to live her life in a way that was an example to others. The book is truly inspirational in the subtle messaging that it is sending out through the life of this great deity. It is a definite recommendation for young women before they go out into the world as it teaches the importance of choosing your battles, standing up against wrong-doing and understanding the many forms that love can take. Divakaruni talks a lot about the love in this book. Usually a topic that is not easy to talk about without sounding trite or preachy. And easy to get on the nerves. Here though she handles the subject with an art that is subtle and truly interesting. Every episode in the life of Sita is turned into an example of love of a different kind with its myriad colours and consequences. As you read, you nod along in agreement and smile and even find yourself shaking your head at the consequences. Over and over again, Sita asks the age-old question of ‘what if?’. As ordinary humans have we not done the same again in our lives making us relate to this celestial queen. Chitra does a wonderful job of establishing the timelines in the narrative. The fact that Raavan was already a well-established king by the time Ram was born, the time between Sita and Ram’s marriage and their exile, the distances they travel and so on. There were many things that one recollects as one is reading, small things that have been forgotten, like the 'kop bhavan' of Kaeikeyi or the fact that all the waives of the four brothers were actually related. Surprisingly, there were 3-4 editorial mistakes in the book which was as disconcerting as it was surprising coming from a publishing house like Harper Collins. When you replace ‘public’ with ‘pubic’ you need to reassess your editorial staff! Time and again, I found myself comparing this book with Amish Tipathi’s Raavan ( I thank my stars I hadn’t read Sita by him or else I would have found myself horribly confused by the storytelling). Whenever Raavan was mentioned in the first part of Sita’s story, I kept imagining Amish’s Raavan and the little bit of Sita that appears in that volume. While Amish chose to set his Ram Chandra series in a world of extremely technically advanced humans, Banerjee’s Sita occupies a world where there is magic and the occult and vanishing villains and so on. The first time it happened in the first few pages of the book, it felt a bit jarring, but then the beauty of the author’s storytelling takes over as does the childhood versions of the Ramayan that we have seen or heard, thus allowing the psyche to absorb the tale as it is told. Definite recommendation. A book that can be re-read. Especially at Diwali.

This book is a retelling of the Ramayana, but from Sita’s point of view. The author gives a strong voice to Sita and other women in the story. The writing is soft and poetic. It talks about love, pain, duty, and women’s rights in a thoughtful way. The story is touching and powerful. If you like Indian mythology or books about women, you should definitely read this one.

I love the book. The Ramayana from Sita's perspective is such an innovative concept.

Felt fresh reading even after knowing the story

“What occurred when I was alone in the darkness, under the sorrow tree, you don’t know. You don’t know my despair. You don’t even know my exhilaration, how it felt—first in the forest and then in Ayodhya—when I was the most beloved woman in creation.” In this brilliant retelling of the world’s one of the greatest epic Ramayana, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the center of the novel and creates her own version of the epic - “Sitayana”. It not only tells the story of duty, betrayal, infidelity, and honour, but also explores women’s struggle and her battle of wills to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men. It also touches the stories of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari and attempt to answer some underlying questions like: How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’ Review: 🍂 The book is the modern retelling of Ramayana from Sita's perspective, where Sita narrates her own life. Although I liked the concept, there is nothing new in it. Lanka's princess, Sita's Sisters and the Liberation of Sita were written on the same concept. 🍂 The story is told from the first-person-narrative of Sita. The writing was beautiful at places and felt like a drag at others. I did feel that certain events were written in haste, like the 14 years exile period in the forest, her imprisonment in Lanka and the war, and the last phase of her life after the birth of Luv-Kush. 🍂 The author had beautifully fleshed out Sita's characters into life and makes her believable. However, her relation with other characters like King Janaka, Mandavi, Sutakirti, Lakshman and Trijata, etc. are completely ignored. The other female characters of Ramayana like Urmila, Kaikeyi, Suparnaka, Ahalya, Kaushalya, which the books talk about exploring felt not written in-depth. 🍂 The author had boasted throughout the book about the nature of LOVE through lovely proses and how it shapes Sita's mindset. But the writing felt as if it is written from a position of pain rather than love. 🍂 If you have read Valmiki Ramayana then you will find that there was plenty of inaccuracy in the story which could have been easily avoided like Ram-Sita didn't meet Rishi Gautam and Ahalya during their exile, they spent only the last year of their exile in Panchavati, within a day after battle Ram leaves Lanka for Ayodhya, his coronation was done on the next day, not after a month, etc. 🍂 Loved the ending the most where the Sita, the daughter of Earth truly metamorphosed into the daughter of Fire. She raised her voice against the wrong treatment committed to her by Rama and finally said Enough! Personally, I am not impressed with the book. From reading The Palace of Illusions I have very high hope from this book, but it fails to rise above the ordinary level. For a light read go for this book, otherwise skip it. There are several other books based on Ramayana’s retelling, far better than this one. Go for them. My Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️

He has come to teach the men, but you have come to teach the women. The lesson you teach will be a quieter one, but as important. Most of us know Ramayan, having heard it from the mouths of our grandparents or having read/saw it as kids, or, having at least acquainted ourselves with the basic facts, post the Babri Masjid-Ram Janma Bhoomi issue. With mythology becoming the hottest trend in the story writing market for some years now, I must say it was getting annoying to see everyone trying their hands at it. Choosing the right one seemed impossible. What if it was just fan-fiction? (I must mention here that I am not too fond of fan fiction, I find them ruinous) Or worse, what if some writer was just trying to get in a few bucks by preaching rather than actually presenting a worthwhile retelling to the readers? Write our story, too. For always we’ve been pushed into corners, trivialized, misunderstood, blamed, forgotten- or maligned and used as cautionary tales. The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is not a retelling of Ramayan, it is, for lack of a better word, Sitayan. Because it is the story of Sita, from her own mouth. It is the story of Sunaina, helping her husband Janak run the kingdom from behind closed doors. It is the story of Kaushalya, a queen forgotten. It is the story of Kaikeyi, a woman who’s role as a mother clouded every other aspect of her life. It is the story of Urmila, left behind to wait and weep. It is the story of Meenakshi turned Surpanakha, the trusting asura. It is the story of Ahalya, the unfairly judged. It is the story of Mandodari, the blind supporter of her husband. It is the story of us women, in this world, and those who were before us and will come after us. And most of all, it is a story about women in love. Red. But of course. How else could I write my story except in the color of menstruation and childbirth, the color of the marriage mark that changes women’s lives, the color of the flowers of the Ashoka tree under which I had spent my years of captivity in the palace of the demon king? Sita was found as an infant by the King of Mithila and lived her life as a princess, the elder daughter of King Janak and Queen Sunaina, along with her jovial younger sister Urmila. Both the princesses shared a camaraderie beyond just words. They knew the other without them telling anything. So when brothers Ram and Lakshman came to the palace with their Guru, both knew that the other had lost her heart to the respective brother. “Remember this, too: sometimes our ill luck has consequences that bless others” Marriage was bliss. Love was aplenty and so were pleasures and comfort in the palace of Dasharath, father of their husbands and King of Koshal. The coronation day arrived in a blink of an eye, love tends to do that, pass time like it was just yesterday when they were gawking at the handsome princes in their father’s palace. And then it was time for the fates to turn. Exiled for 14 years of forest living, Ram and Sita along with Lakshman made their way away from the palace and Ayodhya. Years passed with simple living and minimal troubles. But just when their exile was about to end, Sita was abducted by the demon king. Prisoned and guarded all the time, time seemed to stop for Sita. Waiting for Ram to come and rescue her was the hardest thing she had to do, or so she thought. But when she was finally reunited with her beloved, she faced her life’s exams, and it was even more difficult than the year she spent in captivity. “What occurred when I was alone in the darkness, under the sorrow tree, you don’t know. You don’t know my despair. You don’t even know my exhilaration, how it felt- first in the forest and then in Ayodhya- when I was the most beloved woman in creation.” Oh, what a book it was! Lucid and profound, the words slipped easily into my mind and it wasn’t long before I was deep into Sita’s world. Ms. Banerjee’s Sitayan is so relatable! Why couldn't we have been exposed to such interpretations earlier in life? Why did we have to think that being perfect is the benchmark? Why did we have to grow up thinking that ‘Agni Pariksha’ was necessary to prove women’s innocence and purity? And what does purity even mean? Is it of body or mind? And why, o why, does ‘Log kya kahenge’ matter so much!? “Anything that makes us forget our true selves is a trap, princess- even something we love or define as beautiful.” Ms. Banerjee, for me, has done justice to the topic she chose. Trust me when I say this because we are a community of unbending uptight people who regard such writings as blasphemy as they don’t sit well with our patriarchal setups. Although I don’t really know/believe that epics like these are true or not, I cringe when someone breaks them into thousand pieces and makes something indigestible. Why then, this has me swooning all over? Because it has blown me over with the portrayal of love and its different facets at every step. The lovers’ love, the mother-child love, the sibling love, the friendship love, and most importantly, self-love, all are laid bare with the rawest of emotions dripping. And with that, comes the sense behind the entire story. It is all for love, in the end. Why was it our holy men who made a big deal of giving up on so many things- comfort, fame, family- couldn’t seem to give up their tempers? While Sita’s character was beautifully built and matured, other characters weren't given their own voice. Rather, it was Sita from whom we learn of their roles and I would want to go with the flow and think that Sita did justice to them when she spoke about them. Her relationship with Ram is explored beyond the measures we have usually read, or at least I have known. It was a refreshing insight for me to feel connected to her, her human side rather than her being the unreachable Goddess. However, her other roles got subdued in the glow of her wifely duties. Her relationship with her parents, her sister, her mothers-in-law, Lakshman, and lastly Hanuman, there was so much scope to explore there, but I know it would have been a humongous task. Maybe there is time for those voices to come alive. For now, I am glad we have another voice of Sita, a real voice who can stand for her own when the need arises. Remain true to yourself- and to your heart. Be courageous and remember, even the blackest night must end in dawn.

‘The Forest of Enchantments’ is the story of Ramayana, as narrated by Sita and presented to us by the one and only Chitra Divakaruni as the long awaited, masterpiece publication is finally out of the press, and available for the readers to enjoy. Ramayana, the time-tested mythological classic has remained a legendary saga of Indian traditions, and its values of righteousness. The incarnation and celebrated tale of Sri Rama during Thretha Yuga has been the ultimate example of a perfect human arriving on earth, annihilating the wrong and reclaiming the good that every Hindu household revered and admired. The celebrated story has been depicted by sage Valmiki and through millennia by several illustrious authors, wherein the personality of Sita has been portrayed as that of a perpetually wronged and suffering female, from an abandoned newborn, to sheltered princess, a dutifully obedient wife and a single mother discarded by her husband. That is, until now. Until Divakaruni scrupulously ventured delving into the life of Sita through her own personal perspective as a distinctly intelligent and independent woman, having her own version to tell, thus presenting to us a chronicle with all its refreshing ethos and daunting insinuations. This should have been rightly titled ‘Sitayan’ as Sita proclaims to Valmiki as she eventually ‘succeeds in convincing’ Chitra to present to the modern world a version as her very own biography ‘in her own words’. The character of Sita in the ‘Forest’ aligns very much with that of Draupadi (Panchali), another mythical heroine of the epic Mahabharata, in Chitra’s ‘Palace of Illusions’, the story that would happen in the ensuing Dwapara Yuga. Through the poignant accounts of the two contrastingly enduring personalities, the author has succinctly depicted an ageless and sad reality of females, of daughters, wives, and mothers. ‘Forest of Enchantments’ is a delightful treat embellished with the author’s narrative style, its imaginative descriptions and the appealing constituents in the story. The household chronicle that every Indian child has been repeatedly told with its familiar characters and their customary personalities suddenly assume different dimensions through Chitra Divakaruni’s portrayal of Sita, told in her inimitable fashion. The author presents the mythical characters as regular humans, who exist, chat, eat, love, argue, fight and live like all of us, experiencing and expressing pleasures and frustrations like common people. To all those who are ‘very familiar’ with Ramayana, this book is assured to be an astounding revelation, and an ecstatic experience. To those who are not familiar with Sita or Ramayana, indulge in for quite a treat that you may have never felt through a story. Dr. Venugopal K. Menon

One of my favorite book ever. It is amazing the way In which the author retells us the story of Panchaali. Before buying this book I read the Mahabharata and I think the story Divakaruni tells us is extraordinary, full of details and emotionally vibrant.

Lovely read from Sita’s point of view

Very emotional, provides a great persepective and angle to the story I heard all my life! Cant wait to read more!

Written beautifully from the aspect of well-known but not often thought about character from a famous Hindu epic. Wonderful reading it from a woman's point of view