Ramayana Quiz Questions and Answers

Which sage is traditionally honoured as the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana?

• Vyasa
• Vasishtha
• Valmiki
• Vishwamitra

Answer: Valmiki. Valmiki is called the Adi Kavi, or first poet, of Sanskrit. Vyasa is linked to the Mahabharata, while Vasishtha and Vishwamitra are gurus who appear inside the Ramayana story.

Rama was the eldest son of which king of Ayodhya?

• Dasharatha
• Janaka
• Raghu
• Bharata

Answer: Dasharatha. Dasharatha ruled Kosala from Ayodhya and belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Raghu was an ancestor, which is why Rama is also called Raghava or Raghunandan.

For how many years was Rama sent into exile in the forest?

• 7
• 10
• 12
• 14

Answer: 14. Queen Kaikeyi used two boons Dasharatha owed her: her son Bharata would be crowned, and Rama would live in the forest for 14 years.

Sita was found in a ploughed furrow and raised as the daughter of which king?

• Sugriva
• Janaka
• Romapada
• Ashwapati

Answer: Janaka. King Janaka of Videha found the baby while ploughing the land. The Sanskrit word 'sita' means furrow, and she is also called Janaki and Maithili after him and his city Mithila. Romapada was a king of Anga and a friend of Dasharatha.

The Valmiki Ramayana is divided into how many books, called kandas?

• 5
• 6
• 7
• 18

Answer: 7. The seven kandas are Bala, Ayodhya, Aranya, Kishkindha, Sundara, Yuddha and Uttara. The epic runs to about 24,000 verses; it is the Mahabharata that has 18 parvas.

Which of these was NOT one of King Dasharatha's queens?

• Kausalya
• Kaikeyi
• Sumitra
• Mandodari

Answer: Mandodari. Mandodari was Ravana's chief queen in Lanka. Kausalya was Rama's mother, Kaikeyi was Bharata's mother and Sumitra was the mother of Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Which maid poisoned Queen Kaikeyi's mind against Rama's coronation?

• Manthara
• Trijata
• Shabari
• Ahalya

Answer: Manthara. Manthara, Kaikeyi's hunchbacked maid, persuaded her to claim her boons. Trijata was the kind rakshasi who comforted Sita in Lanka, and Shabari was the devotee who waited years to meet Rama.

At Sita's swayamvara in Mithila, Rama lifted and broke a great bow that once belonged to which god?

• Indra
• Shiva
• Vishnu
• Varuna

Answer: Shiva. Shiva's mighty bow had been kept by Janaka's family, and no suitor could even lift it. Rama strung it and it snapped in two, winning him Sita's hand.

Which rakshasa disguised himself as a golden deer to lure Rama away from Sita?

• Maricha
• Khara
• Subahu
• Kumbhakarna

Answer: Maricha. Maricha, son of Tataka, took the form of a golden deer on Ravana's orders. As he died he cried out in Rama's voice, which drew Lakshmana away too and left Sita alone.

Which aged vulture king was mortally wounded trying to stop Ravana from carrying Sita away?

• Garuda
• Sampati
• Jatayu
• Aruna

Answer: Jatayu. Jatayu fought Ravana in mid-air and lived just long enough to tell Rama which way Sita had been taken. His elder brother Sampati later helped the vanaras locate Lanka.

Rama killed Vali so that which vanara could become king of Kishkindha?

• Angada
• Hanuman
• Nila
• Sugriva

Answer: Sugriva. Vali had driven his younger brother Sugriva out of Kishkindha. After Rama killed Vali, Sugriva became king and sent his armies to search for Sita, with Vali's son Angada as crown prince.

In the Ashoka grove of Lanka, what did Sita give Hanuman as a token to take back to Rama?

• Rama's signet ring
• Her chudamani, a hair jewel
• A golden anklet
• A lock of her hair

Answer: Her chudamani, a hair jewel. Hanuman first showed Sita Rama's signet ring to win her trust. In return she sent back her chudamani, the jewel she wore in her hair, as proof that he had found her.

In Valmiki's telling, which vanara, a son of the divine architect Vishwakarma, led the building of the bridge to Lanka?

• Nala
• Angada
• Jambavan
• Sushena

Answer: Nala. In the Yuddha Kanda, Nala supervises the vanaras as they build the bridge across the sea, which is why it is also called Nala Setu. Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas credits Nala together with Nila; Jambavan was the wise bear king and Sushena the army's healer.

Before Ravana seized it, the golden city of Lanka belonged to which of his half-brothers?

• Vibhishana
• Kumbhakarna
• Kubera
• Khara

Answer: Kubera. Kubera, god of wealth, ruled Lanka until Ravana drove him out and also took his flying chariot, the Pushpaka Vimana. Both were sons of the sage Vishrava by different mothers.

Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas, one of the most widely read retellings of the Ramayana, in which language?

• Braj Bhasha
• Awadhi
• Sanskrit
• Maithili

Answer: Awadhi. Tulsidas composed it in Awadhi in the 16th century so ordinary people could read Rama's story. Other famous retellings include Kamban's Tamil Ramavataram and Krittibas Ojha's Bengali Ramayana.