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Ratings: ★★★★☆(4.3/5)
Genre: Mythology / Sri Lankan History / Indology / Religious Studies

Book Review:
Tracing the Epic's Footprints in Sri Lankan Soil
Wijaya Dissanayake's ''Ramayana: As Shadows of South Asia's Proto-History'' is a bold and intriguing work that invites readers to consider the great Indian epic not just as a timeless story, but as a text that may be deeply intertwined with the ancient landscape and history of Sri Lanka. For a Sri Lankan reader, this is a particularly resonant exploration.

Dissanayake approaches the Valmiki Ramayana with the eye of a scholar, seeking to peel back the layers of myth and legend to find possible historical and geographical cores. The book's central focus is, naturally, on Lanka—the opulent island kingdom of Ravana. Dissanayake meticulously examines the epic's descriptions of Lanka's geography, its cities, and its people, and attempts to correlate them with the physical realities of the island. He also explores other key locations in the Ramayana story, from Ayodhya to the forests of Panchavati and the mythical bridge to Lanka, weaving together textual analysis with geographical and archaeological insights.

The book is enriched by a foreword by Vini Vitharana, who praises Dissanayake's work as ''a treasure of research.'' While some of the book's conclusions may be speculative, it is precisely this willingness to ask big questions that makes it so stimulating. It tackles the ''element of controversy'' that surrounds the Ramayana's connection to Sri Lanka, engaging with it in a serious and scholarly manner.

''Ramayana: As Shadows of South Asia's Proto-History'' is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the epic, the ancient history of South Asia, or the enduring cultural connections between India and Sri Lanka. It is a book that will make you see both the Ramayana and the island of Lanka in a new and thought-provoking light.