Sita & the City: The many faces of the Ramayana across Asia

London, lamps, fireworks & festivity!

For many in the city’s South Asian and Southeast Asian communities, two celebrations shape this season: Dussehra, marking Rama’s victory over Ravana, and Diwali, the festival of lights that welcomes Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya after years of exile.

Behind these celebrations lies one of humanity's greatest stories: The Ramayana.

An epic that is at once sacred, literary, and cultural, the Ramayana has been retold over two millennia in 24,000 verses in many ways: in the poetry of Tulsidas, on the walls of Thai temples, in the shadows of Indonesian wayang kulit puppets, in Tibetan manuscripts, in Bollywood movies, and in countless songs, dances, and plays even today. It is not one story, but many: a text, a performance, a memory, a living tradition. Every retelling reveals something new — not just about Sita, Rama, Hanuman, or Ravana (and 1,000+ other characters), but about the many cultures and cities that embraced it.

This illustrated talk, featuring public historian Riya Sarkar and poet Aditi Angiras, is both playful and profound: a journey through art, film, painting, and text that explores why this story, thousands of years old, continues to resonate. We trace how one epic moves across geography, imagination, and centuries. Why do its characters feel so familiar, its conflicts so modern, its questions so urgent?

* Often called the ‘Iliad of the East’, but did you know the Ramayana is actually centuries older?

* Who really wrote the Ramayana: a single poet, or centuries of storytellers?

* Silent, outspoken, revered, questioned: who really is Sita?

📍 Limehouse Town Hall is one of London’s most important community spaces. Built in 1881 in the grand Palazzo style, it has served as a vestry hall, a political stage, a museum, and a neighbourhood hub. Damaged in the war and restored multiple times, today it thrives as a Grade II listed building, hosting everything from book clubs and yoga sessions to festivals and training workshops.

By choosing this venue, you’re not just attending an event; you’re also helping support the preservation and life of a cornerstone of London community heritage.

⏰ Duration: Talk & Screening (60 minutes) + Q&A (15 minutes)
🍷 Refreshments: Non-alcoholic drinks + snacks from the subcontinent!
🎟️ Capacity: 80

✨ Come for the story you know. Leave with a hundred versions you’ve never imagined.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Road, London, United Kingdom