ABSTRACT
The views on women's nature and social position thus derived from the narrative framework of the Rama saga constitute crucial points of response in the many retellings of the tale. The nuanced critical approach that Bangha's study implies is particularly promising in view of the enormous popularity of the Sagar version, for it shows how a regional Ramayana has come to assume the hegemonic authority once ascribed to the Valmiki text. Studying the regionalist progress of the Ramayana is then tied to understanding the means of persuasion adopted in a telling as it moves away from a presumed authoritative textual precursor of general currency, commonly considered to be the Valmiki Ramayana. It is this emblematic force of visual communication that adds to the texture of the Ramayana tradition, especially in the tradition's regional dimensions, for paintings and sculptures create an instant physical link between the viewer and the image.
