Scholars at the Asiatic Society Kolkata were elated when they stumbled upon a brand new manuscript of a 6th century Ramayana hidden away in a little known Sanskrit Library in Kolkata.

The most well known version of the Ramayana is by Valmiki, the oldest version which had seven sections. The new manuscript only has five sections and is likely to replace the 12-century rendition by the Tamil poet Kamba, which is considered to be the second-oldest version.

The Scholars while analysing the text in the new manuscript noticed some blaring twists in the story line, albiet the main character Rama, Sita and Ravana are the same. The manuscript portrays Rama and Sita more as humans and focuses more on the separation of the two, reports the Times of India.

This version does not start with curse that forced Dasarth to send his son to exile, instead, it begins with a curse that fell on Goddess Lakshmi. It excludes the Balkanda the portion focused on Rama's childhood and Uttrakanda. The new manuscript ends with Rama's return from exile and his ascension to the throne.

"Ram here is more human than God, with follies like anger and failure. Some interesting details like the ages of Sita and Rama at the time of marriage and the date when Sita was abducted by Ravana are in this version," Sanskrit scholar Manabendu Bandyopadhyay, president of the parishad and general secretary of Asiatic Society told the Times of India.

The scholars will take nearly a year to complete reading and interpreting this new version of the Ramayana and later the Asiatic Society plans to publish it as a book.

