SugrivaSugriva (सुग्रीव, , beautiful necked) is a character In the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kishkindha. Rumā is his wife. He is a son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. As the king of the vanaras, Sugriva aided Rama in his quest to liberate his wife Sita from captivity at the hands of the rakshasa king Ravana. He is also known as Sugriwa, Su-khrip, Sugeep, Sukhreeb, Creole: Soogrim, Sangkip, Sukkrivan, Thugyeik, Sugreeva or Sugreev.
Dasharathavignette|Kaikeyi exige que Dasharatha bannisse Rama d'Ayodhya (peinture de Ravi Varmâ, vers 1895). Dasharatha-(Nemi) (sanskrit : दशरथ, IAST Daśaratha) est, selon le Ramayana, le roi d'Ayodhya, père du prince Rāma, le personnage principal de cette épopée. Membre de la dynastie solaire (ou Suryavamsha ou Raghuvaṃśa), il est le petit-fils de l'empereur Raghu et le fils du roi et de la reine Indumati. Il a quatre fils, issus de trois épouses différentes : la première, , lui donne Râma, la deuxième, lui donne des jumeaux, Lakshmana et Shatrughna, et la troisième, Kaikeyi, lui donne Bharata.
VanaraVanara (वानर, « Singe » en sanskrit), est le peuple singe décrit par le Ramayana comme un peuple curieux et brave et doté de pouvoirs comme la métamorphose. Ce sont des habitants de la forêt (vana). Les Vanara (« Singes ») furent créés par Brahma et les autres dieux ; dans le 'Rāmāyaṇa', ils sont les alliés de Rāma contre le roi démoniaque Ravana : avec leur armée, ils aident Rāma à retrouver Sītā enlevée par Ravana ; les Vanara sont puissants et bons. Ils habitent dans les forêts, s'organisent en armées et dirigent le royaume de Riskshavat.
Kaikeyithumb|Dasharatha promet de bannir Râma à la demande de Kaikeyi. Illustration d'un manuscrit du . Dans l'épopée hindoue du Ramayana, Kaikeyi (sanskrit : कैकेयी, Kaikeyī, indonésien : Kekayi, birman : Kaike, malais : Kekayi, thaï : Kaiyakesi, khmer : កៃកេសី) est une des trois épouses du roi Daśaratha d'Ayodhyā. Elle est la mère du prince Bharata et la belle-mère de Râma, dont elle demande l'exil à son mari. Le mot sanskrit signifie , un état cité aussi dans le Mahabaratha et situé approximativement au Pendjab, dans l'actuel Pakistan.
Jatayuthumb|Sculpture en bois, Musée national de Bangkok. Dans l'hindouisme, Jatâyu (sanskrit : जटायुः jaṭāyu ou jaṭāyus, tamoul : Chatayu, thaï : Nok Sadayu signifiant "oiseau sadayu" ou Hastayu, malais : Jentayu ou Chentayu, indonésien : Jatayu) est un oiseau fabuleux de la mythologie hindoue, fils d'Aruna selon le Ramayana ou de Garuda et frère de Sampati. Dans le Rāmāyaṇa, il tente d'empêcher l'enlèvement de Sītā par le démon Rāvaṇa, puis, blessé à mort par celui-ci, prévient Rāma et lui remet l'anneau que celle-ci a laissé tomber.
AngadaAngada (Sanskrit: अङ्गदः, IAST: Aṅgada) is a legendary vanara in Hinduism. He helps Rama find his wife Sita and fight her abductor, Ravana, in the epic Ramayana. He is the prince of Kishkindha, and is later crowned as the kingdom's monarch. Angada is a son of the powerful vanara king Vali, and his wife Tara. He is the nephew of Sugriva. After Rama and Sugriva kill his father, Angada joins Rama's forces to rescue Sita from Ravana's captivity.
MandodariMandodari (मंदोदरी, , lit. "soft-bellied";) was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Ramayana describes her as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extolled as one of the Panchakanya, the recital of whose names is believed to dispel sin. Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, the King of the Asuras (demons), and the apsara (celestial nymphs) Hema. She marries Ravana. According to some Ramayana adaptations, Mandodari is the mother of Rama's wife Sita, who is infamously kidnapped by Ravana.
ManimekalaiMaṇimēkalai (மணிமேகலை, jewelled belt, girdle of gems), also spelled Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, is a Tamil-Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably somewhere between the 2nd century to the 6th century. It is an "anti-love story", a sequel to the "love story" in the earliest Tamil epic Silappadikaram, with some characters from it and their next generation. The epic consists of 4,861 lines in akaval meter, arranged in 30 cantos.
Wayang kulitWayang kulit (ꦮꦪꦁꦏꦸꦭꦶꦠ꧀) is a traditional form of puppet-shadow play originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a wayang kulit performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut-oil (or electric) light. The dalang (shadow artist) manipulates carved leather figures between the lamp and the screen to bring the shadows to life. The narratives of wayang kulit often have to do with the major theme of good vs. evil.
KumbhakarnaKumbhakarna (Sanskrit: कुम्भकर्ण, lit. pot-eared) is a powerful rakshasa and younger brother of Ravana from the Hindu epic Ramayana. Despite his gigantic size and appetite, he is described as a virtuous character and a great warrior in Hindu texts. He is said to have slaughtered 8,000 vanaras over the course of Rama's mission to rescue Sita. Vibhishana narrated that Kumbhakarna had been born with immense strength, having subdued both Indra and Yama, striking the former in the chest with the broken tusk of Airavata.
