In Valmiki’s Ramayan, Sita is the chaste one, Rama the ideal man, and Supranakha, Ravan’s Rakshasi (demon) sister who is mutilated and punished for falling in love with Ram.

When Kathak dancer Ashavari Majumdar read AK Ramanujan’s Many Ramayanas, she learnt that there are over 300 versions of the Ramayan, including Cambodian, Russian, Persion, Thai and Kamban (Tamil) adaptations.