After visiting the Shree Lakshminarayan temple, Bangulzai and I got into a short discussion about Rama and Sita, whose picture they have in the worship area. Here's some stuff on Rama from Wikipedia:
The name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of R�ma and ayana "going, advancing", translating to "Rama's Journey". The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books, and 500 cantos (k�ṇ�as), and tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu preserver-god Vishnu), whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rakshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma.
In the Uttara Kanda, Rama banishes his wife Sita, even as she is pregnant, asking Lakshmana to deliver her safely to Rishi Valmiki's ashram. He does so when it is reported to him that some subjects of his in Ayodhya believed that Sita was unchaste due to her long captivity in Ravana's city. As a king is expected to uphold moral principles, and the keeping of an unchaste woman is considered a violation of said principles, Rama reluctantly banished Sita in order to uphold his duty as a king.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu#Avatars
Rama and Sita were also the subject of a Philippine musical. Take note, this was a 1988 production, pretty impressive for its time. Hopefully someone can comment on its faithfulness to the Hindu original. If anyone's curious I can help figure out what's going on. I wish I could translate it fully but I'm not very good at Filipino :)
If you like the videos below, there are many other videos of the same production in the Youtube user's channel.
Don't Escape, preceded by I Am Vishnu, I Am Lakshmi
Talking about Rama's fate as a great ruler, and his destiny with Sita.
Yes, that's an elephant =P From Wikipedia, "Vishnu's eternal consort Lakshmi took birth as Sita and was found by king Janaka of Mithila while he was ploughing a field." I guess that means Rama and Sita really are a couple who's meant for each other.
The Same Heartbeat (that is, two hearts beating as one)/Song of Courtship
The two fall in love at this point.
A small translation of the song "The Same Heartbeat". Too bad the forum doesn't display tables. :<
On the path to be taken
That [ ] thought would be alone
Don't be sad
Don't be apprehensive
The two of them are one
The pronouns here are all wonky, cause all of them are implied except for "they" (sila) in the last line.
A look that tied together the two
Who didn't plan to meet
Knotted, made one
Hearts that were once different
Whereas sadya implies going out of one's way, 'di sadya sort of means that it wasn't "their fault."
Heat of breath
An inflamer of the senses
Penetrates the soul
The temporary becomes
Eternal
Tagos means to seep through (e.g. light through a window). Walang hanggan literally means without limit.
Fragrance of champaca, song of courtship
Committed to memory
Care for it
That it may bear fruit
Care for it, care for it
Limbag is to publish. Sana is difficult to translate, it means 'hopefully' (hopefully you will care for it...)