Ramayan' breaks all records

TV serial 'Ramayan' breaks all records, becomes world's most-watched show

Ramanand Sagars popular TV serial 'Ramayan' which is re-airing on Doordarshan became the world's most-watched show on April 16 with 7.7 crore viewers, DD India posted on its official Twitter handle on late Thursday night.

Ramanand Sagars popular TV serial 'Ramayan' which is re-airing on Doordarshan became the world's most-watched show on April 16 with 7.7 crore viewers, DD India posted on its official Twitter handle on late Thursday night.

Ramayan' was being telecast again since March 28 on public demand. In fact, when it was telecast for the first time, the serial had broken all records of popularity, and the show has repeated its history again.

Ramanand Sagar had made a total of 78 episodes of this serial based on Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas.

For the first time in the country, the serial was originally broadcast from January 25, 1987 to July 31, 1988. Then, every Sunday, at 9.30 a.m. the show was aired on TV.

From 1987 to 1988, 'Ramayan' became the most watched serial in the world. Till June 2003, it remained recorded in the Limca Book of Records as "the most watched mythological serial in the world".

The show was a game-changer for Indian television, hooking the nation to the show. Sunday mornings were never the same for families in India after the first episode of "Ramayan" aired on television. The impact was such that the actors associated with the show, continue to live under the shadow of their characters, with people remembering them for the roles they played in the show, which narrated the life story of Lord Rama and Sita.

The role of Ram was played by Arun Govil, Sita played by Deepika Chikhalia, Lakshman was played by Sunil Lahiri, Hanuman by late Dara Singh, and Ravan by Arvind Trivedi. It also featured Sanjay Jog, late Vijay Arora, Sameer Rajda, late Mulraj Rajda and late Lalita Pawar.