More than 2,000 years old and 24,000 verses long, the Ramayana is one of the most important Hindu myths. A minutely detailed manuscript of the epic from the 17th century has gone on display for the first time in the British Library, a severely abridged version of which can be seen below.
Scouring the forest for his wife, Rama happens across Sugriva, the exiled king of the monkeys, and they agree to join forces.