ABSTRACT
The present chapter attempts to study the critical-intellectual engagement of Indira Goswami (1942–2011) with the traditions of Ramkatha/Rama story extending from Valmiki’s Ramayana to Madhav Kandali’s Satkanda Ramayana and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas to the localised versions of the epic within the cultural geography of north India and Assam. Emphasising upon the essentially comparative nature of her research, this study shall endeavour to analyse her crucial position vis-a-vis the earlier traditions of Ramayana studies spearheaded by scholars like U.C. Lekharu and Camille Bulcke whose writings were instrumental in the formulation of her own perspectives on the subject. The chapter will explore the manner in which she responded to this critical tradition and went beyond it to carve a distinct niche for herself as one of the foremost Ramayana scholars of the country.
