Sundara Kãnda: Hanuman's Odyssey

Sundara Kãnda the Canto Beautiful of the epic' Valmiki Ramayana' is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading Sundara Kãnda or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of Sundara Kãnda to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds.With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this over 3,000 sloka to sloka transcreation of the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike. Interestingly, as the following verses illustrates, it was the forerunner of the magic realism of our times – “Gripped she then him by shadow / Cast which Hanuman coast to coast; Recalled he in dismay then / What Sugreev said at outset / That one fiend had aptitude / To grip its prey by mere shadow.”