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	\| affiliation = [[Queen Consort]] of [[Lanka]]		\| affiliation = [[Queen Consort]] of [[Lanka]]
	\| spouse = [[Vibhishana]]		\| spouse = [[Vibhishana]]
	\| children = [[Trijata]]		\| children = [[Trijata]], Taranisen
	\| type = hindu		\| type = hindu
	\| gender = Female		\| gender = Female

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{{Short description|Queen Consort of Lanka in the Hindu epic Ramayna}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| image = Sita Sarama Chit chat.jpg
| caption = Sita with Sarama (right)
| affiliation = [[Queen Consort]] of [[Lanka]]
| spouse = [[Vibhishana]]
| children = [[Trijata]]
| type = hindu
| gender = Female
}}
In the [[Mahakavya|Hindu epic]] ''[[Ramayana]]'', '''Sarama''' ({{lang-sa|सरमा}}, {{IAST|Saramā}}) is the wife of [[Vibhishana]], the brother of [[Ravana]], the demon (rakshasa) king of [[Lanka]].<ref name="Mani">{{cite book|author = Mani, Vettam|title = Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|url = https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft|publisher = Motilal Banarsidass|year = 1975|location = Delhi|isbn = 0-8426-0822-2|authorlink =Vettam Mani|page=[https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/694 694]}}</ref> Sometimes, she is described a [[rakshasi]] (demoness),<ref name="Venkatesananda358"/> at other times, she is said to have [[gandharva]] (celestial dancers) lineage. All accounts agree that Sarama was friendly to [[Sita]], the consort of Rama (the prince of [[Ayodhya]] and an [[avatar]] of the god [[Vishnu]]), who was kidnapped by Ravana and imprisoned in Lanka. Like her husband who sides with Rama in the war against Ravana, Sarama is kind to Sita and aids Rama. Sarama and Vibhishana had a daughter called [[Trijata]].

==Relation with Sita==
According to [[Camille Bulcke]] (an expert on Rama-centric literature), Sarama does not appear in the original ''Ramayana''. However, later interpolations – present in all recensions – added to the text of [[Valmiki]] mention her. She first appears in the episode of ''Maya-shirsa'', the illusory head of Rama. Ravana has abducted [[Sita]], the wife of [[Rama]], the prince of [[Ayodhya]] and repeatedly urges her to marry him, however Sita flatly refuses each time. After Rama with his vanara army lands on Lanka, Ravana asks his magician Vidyujihva to create an illusory severed head of Rama and his bow to convince Sita of Rama's death. The magician complies and presents the head and bow to Sita in the [[Ashoka Vatika]], where she is imprisoned. Sita laments in presence of Ravana seeing the head of her "dead" husband. Soon, Ravana leaves for a meeting with his ministers and the head and the bow disappear after his departure. Sarama comes close to Sita and exposes Ravana's trickery to Sita. She says that she secretly witnessed the trick of Ravana and the head was just a product of magic. She also informs Sita that Rama has arrived in Lanka with his army headed by [[Sugriva]] and she has seen Rama with her own eyes. She asks Sita if she can pass on any message to Rama on Sita's behalf. Sita instead requests Sarama to probe the plans Ravana had for her. Sarama finds out and informs Sita that despite the advice of his mother and wise aged ministers, Ravana refused to hand over Sita to Rama. Sarama is described as "lovely companion" and friend of Sita.<ref>Bulcke pp. 105–6</ref>

The Northern recension adds another episode about Sarama. An canto called ''Sarama-vakyam'' ("conversation with Sarama") narrates how Sarama informs Sita about the burning of Lanka by [[Hanuman]]. This episode appears before Rama comes to Lanka, when he had sent Hanuman to locate where the kidnapped Sita is.<ref name="Bulcke106">Bulcke p. 106</ref>

==Association with Vibhishana==
[[File:Lankatillaka Temple, Vibhishana 0547.jpg|thumb|Vibhishana depicted with his consort Sarama.]]

Neither in the illusory head scene or the ''Sarama-vakyam'' indicate any relationship between Sarama and Vibhishana. The only mention of the unnamed Vibhishana's wife is when Sita mentions about her to Hanuman, where he tracks her in Lanka and meets her. Sita tells him that the wife of Vibhishana – who sides with Rama in the war – sent her daughter Kala (In other recensions of the ''Ramayana'', called Nanda or Anala) to give information of Ravana's intentions about not surrendering Sita to Rama, despite the advice of Vibhishana and Ravana's old and wise minister [[Avindhya]].<ref name="bulcke106ff">Bulcke pp. 106–7</ref>

Four benefactors of Sita emerge in the ''Ramayana'' – the unnamed Vibhisana's wife, Kala, [[Trijata]] and Sarama. Over time in later Rama-centric literature, Sarama was identified as Vibhishana's wife while Trijata was regarded his daughter.<ref name="bulcke106ff"/>

Sarama's identification with Vibhishana's wife is introduced quite early, in the ''Uttra Kanda'', the last Book of the ''Ramayana'' itself, which is regarded as a later addition to the original text.<ref name="bulcke106ff"/> It mentions that Ravana obtained Sarama, the daughter of the [[gandharva]] Sailusa, to be his brother Vibhishana's wife.<ref name="Venkatesananda358">Venkatesananda p. 358</ref><ref name="Mani"/> Sarama was born on the banks of the [[Lake Manasarovar|Manas Lake]]. Seeing the waters of the lake rise, the infant started crying. Her mother commanded the lake, ''Saroma vardhata'' ("Lake, do not rise"), so the child was named Sarama.<ref name="Venkatesananda358"/><ref name="Bulcke107">Bulcke p. 107</ref>

==Post-''Ramayana'' literature==
In post-''Ramayana'' literature, Trijata, the daughter of Sarama and Vibhishana, acquires a greater role. In some adaptions, she replaces Sarama in both episodes attributed to her mother in the original epic.<ref name="Bulcke108">Bulcke p. 108</ref> However, the ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan]]a'' portrays Trijata in bad light appealing to Sita to wed Ravana and rule as the queen of Lanka. This [[Bengali language|Bengali]] adaptation emphasizes on friendship of Sarama and Sita. In a playful pun, Sita tells Sarama, "I am Rama, and thus, you are called Sarama, because of me".<ref name="Bulcke110">Bulcke p. 110</ref> The ''[[Ranganatha Ramayanamu|Ranganatha Ramayana]]'' and the ''[[Tattvasamgraha Ramayana]]'' credit Sarama as the one who points the location of the [[yajna]], which would have made Ravana invincible, to the army of Rama so they can destroy it.<ref>Nagar p. 407</ref>

The ''[[Ananda Ramayana]]'' narrates that after Rama's victory in the war over Ravana both Sarama and Trijata went to Ayodhya in the [[Pushpaka vimana]], Ravana's aerial chariot. Later, when Sita visits Lanka, she says to Sarama to treat Trijata like she is Sita.<ref name="Bulcke109">Bulcke p. 109</ref>

In the [[Telugu language|Telugu]] ''Sita Puranamu'', [[Tripuraneni Ramaswamy|Ramaswami Chaudari]] portrays Sarama negatively as the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryan]] (gandharva) wife of the [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] Vibhishana, who sways her husband's opinion towards Rama and forces him to betray his just brother Ravana.<ref name="Richman2001">{{cite book|editor=Paula Richman|author=Rao, Velcheru Narayana|chapter=The Politics of Telugu Ramayanas|title=Questioning Ramayanas: A South Asian Tradition|date=1 January 2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22074-4|pages=175–77}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|author=Bulcke, Camille|editor=Prasāda, Dineśvara|title=Rāmakathā and Other Essays|year=2010|publisher=Vani Prakashan|isbn=978-93-5000-107-3|pages=104–112|chapter = Sita's Friend Trijata|authorlink=Camille Bulcke}}
* {{cite book|author=Swami Venkatesananda|title=The Concise Ramayana of Valmiki|year=1988|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-88706-862-1}}
* {{cite book|author=Nagar, Shanti Lal |title=Genesis and Evolution of the Rāma Kathā in Indian Art, Thought, Literature, and Culture: From the Earliest Period to the Modern Times|year=1999|publisher=B.R. Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7646-084-2|volume=2}}

{{Ramayana}}

[[Category:Rakshasa in the Ramayana]]
[[Category:Women in Hindu mythology]]

Sarama (Ramayana) - Revision history

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