Ramayan

In India, there was a city called Ayodhya. It was a very big kingdom, and they had a very nice king named King Dashrath. King Dashrath had four children: Ram, Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrughna.

He had two wives. The first two children, Ram and Lakshman, were from the first wife. Bharat and the fourth son were from the second wife, whose name was Kaikeyi.

Ram was the eldest, followed by Lakshman, then Bharat. As they grew up, everybody loved Ram because he was a very honest, strong, and kind person. Eventually, Ram got married to Sita.

Since Ram was the eldest son, he was about to become the king. Everyone was happy, even Bharat's mother, Kaikeyi. But Kaikeyi had a friend named Manthara who was very evil. She was not happy that Ram was becoming the king.

Manthara told Kaikeyi, "Maharani, what are you thinking? If Ram becomes the king, what will happen to Bharat?"

Kaikeyi got very scared and nervous. She tricked King Dashrath into making Bharat the king and demanded that Ram be sent to the jungle for 14 years. So, Ram prepared to go to the jungle. Lakshman and Sita said they would go with him, so all three went to the jungle.

Bharat was very angry with his mother and Manthara when he found out. He went to Ram and apologized, asking him to come back. But Ram said, "No, you must rule the kingdom on my behalf. I will stay in the jungle for 14 years."

One day in the jungle, a lady named Shurpanakha came. She tried to be naughty with Lakshman, so Lakshman got angry and cut her nose off. She was very upset. She was the sister of a very evil king named Ravana.

Ravana had ten heads and lived in Sri Lanka. He was a powerful and evil king. When he heard what happened, he got very angry. He came and kidnapped Sita, taking her back to Sri Lanka.

Ram and Lakshman were devastated. "Oh my God, we have lost Sita," they said. "We have to go and fight him." But there were only two of them, and Ravana had a full army.

Then, they met a monkey named Hanuman. He was very strong. Hanuman gathered a full army of monkeys to help. First, Ram sent Hanuman to Sri Lanka to ask Ravana to return Sita.

Hanuman flew to Sri Lanka, met Sita, and then went to Ravana. "I am requesting you to return Sita," Hanuman said.

Ravana refused. "I am not going to return her." His guards tried to catch Hanuman and set fire to his tail. But Hanuman was very strong. He made his tail grow very long and used it to burn down the entire city of Lanka. Then he flew back and told Ram what happened.

Ram said, "Now we have no choice but to attack Sri Lanka."

They gathered thousands of monkeys. They even found a flying unicorn! They marched to the ocean but realized it was only water between India and Sri Lanka. How could they cross?

Sri Ram wrote his name on stones and threw them into the water. Miraculously, the stones floated! They built a bridge over the water, and the entire army crossed into Sri Lanka.

They fought a great war and defeated Ravana. During the war, Lakshman got injured and needed a magical flower. Hanuman flew all the way to the Himalayas. When he couldn't identify the flower, he lifted the whole mountain and brought it back! They cured Lakshman, and eventually, Ram killed Ravana.

The day Sri Ram killed the evil king Ravana is celebrated as Dussehra, a festival of good over evil. In India, people burn big effigies of Ravana on this day.

After the war, it took them 21 days to travel back from Sri Lanka to Ayodhya. When they reached Ayodhya, everyone celebrated by lighting candles, lamps (diyas), and bursting firecrackers. This celebration became known as Diwali.

So, Diwali is the day Sri Ram, Lakshman, and Sita returned to Ayodhya, and Dussehra is the day Sri Ram killed Ravana.