Lakshaman (far left) with Rama (centre), Sita (far right) and Hanuman (kneeling) - Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna temple, Watford, England

Lakshmana (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मण, IAST Lakṣmaṇa; Burmese: လက္ခဏ, [lɛʔkʰəna̰]; Chinese: Loman; Indonesian and Javanese: Leksmana, Lesmana, Lesmono; Khmer: ព្រះលក្ម្សណ៍; Lao: ພຣະລັກ; Malay: Laksamana; Maranaw: Mangawarna; Tamil: இலக்குவன் ; Thai: พระลักษมณ์) was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana.^[1] Within a number of Hindu traditions Lakshmana is considered to be an avatar, in a secondary form to Rama's main appearance. In some Hindu traditions he is worshiped as an avatar of Shesha. The name may also be written as Lakshman or Laxman.

Birth and family[link]

Lakshmana is the twin brother of Shatrughna, born in Ayodhya to Sumitra, the second wife of Dasharatha, king of Kosala. Thus, Rama is the eldest, Bharata is the second, Lakshmana is the third, and Shatrughna is the youngest of the four brothers. Despite being the twin of Shatrughna, Lakshmana is specially attached to Rama, and the duo are inseparable. When Rama marries Sita, Lakshmana married the younger sister of Sita named Urmila.^[2]

With Rama[link]

The princes Rama and Lakshamana

In Puranic scripture Lakshmana is described as the incarnation of Ananta Shesha, the thousand-headed Naga upon whom rests Lord Vishnu in the primordial ocean of milk (Kshirasagara). The Lord of Serpents, Sheshanaga was incarnated to the earth in the form of Lakshmana and during the Dvapara Yuga, he incarnated as Balarama. He is said to be an eternal companion of Vishnu in all incarnations.

Lakshmana is part of the Mariyada Purshottamm, or The Perfect Man personified by Rama, by his unswerving loyalty, love and commitment to his elder brother through times of joy and adversity alike. He is an invincible warrior committed to virtue and the service of his brother. He never covets the throne of Ayodhya, nor hesitates from joining his brother in exile, even though he does not have to.

During the exile[link]

The Humiliation of Shurpanakhi

Early in their exile Bharata enters the forest with the royal entourage to persuade Rama to return to Ayodhya and rule as king. Lakshmana initially mistakes his intentions; he jumps to the conclusion that Bharata was approaching with malicious intent. Rama, however, knows of Bharata's love for him and explains to Lakshmana that Bharata would never try to harm them.

Lakshmana serves Rama and Sita reverently during the exile, building them a home in the forest and devotedly standing guard during the night, and accompanying them on tiring journeys and long passages of lonely forest life without complaint or care for himself.

One day Ravana's sister Surpanakha sees Rama's beauty and desires to marry him. She takes on the appearance of an equally beautiful girl and goes towards Rama's hut. There she proposes marriage to him, but he declines, saying that he has vowed to have only one wife. She sees Lakshmana and asks him to marry her, since he is equally as handsome. He also declines, explaining that he cannot take care of her as he is a servant to Rama and has duties to fulfill. She is angered by their rejections, so she insults Sita and threatens to eat her. Lakshmana comes to Sita's defense and cuts off Surpanakha's nose in anger.

The Lakshmana 'Rekha'[link]

When Laxman reached Rama following the false alarm of Mareecha in golden deer's disguise, Rama got upset over his leaving Sita all alone in the forest-hut.

When Sita asks Rama to fetch the magical, golden deer for her, Rama asks Lakshmana to guard Sita and their home, and to take special care since he felt bad omens and sensed danger and evil. The golden deer is in fact the demon Maricha, who must distract Rama and Lakshmana away from the hut so as to allow Ravana to kidnap Sita.

When Rama kills the deer, even as he is dying, Maricha cries out in Rama's own voice, crying for Sita and Lakshmana to help him. Although Lakshmana knows that Rama is invincible and beyond any danger, Sita panics and frantically orders Lakshmana to go to Rama's aid immediately. Unable to disobey the frightened and panicky Sita, and genuinely beginning to fear for Rama's safety, Lakshmana goes out to search for him. He however uses his mystical power to draw the Lakshmana Rekha or Lakshmana's Limit, a perimeter line across the hut that Sita must not cross, and no other being save Lakshmana or Rama may enter uninvited. If any intruder enters, it will be instantly killed.

Sita however, out of compulsion of religious duty and compassion for a poor brahmin, who is actually the disguised Ravana, crosses the line to give him alms. Thus Ravana was safely able to seize Sita.

The Lakshmana Rekha has become a metaphor in situations where a certain limit must not be transgressed by human beings in any circumstance whatsoever.

Ramacharitamanas, the wildly popular North Indian rendering of story of Rama, does not feature the Lakshmana Rekha story in the Aranya Kanda. Neither does the original, the Valmiki Ramayana. However in Lanka Kanda of the Ramcharitmanas, (35.1) Mandodari rebukes Ravana on his boisterous claims of valour by hinting that his claim of strength and valour is shallow for he could not even cross a small line drawn by Shri Rama's younger brother Lakshmana.

Durvasa, Rama, and Lakshmana[link]

In the Uttara Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana, Durvasa appears at Rama's doorstep, and seeing Lakshmana guarding the door, demands an audience with Rama. At the time, Rama was having a private conversation with Death disguised as an ascetic. Before the conversation began, Death gave Rama strict instructions that their dialogue was to remain confidential, and anyone who entered the room and saw or heard them was to be executed. Rama agreed and entrusted Lakshmana with the duty of guarding his door and fulfilling his promise to Death. Thus, when Durvasa made his demand, Lakshmana politely asked the sage to wait until Rama had finished his meeting. The sage grew angry and threatened to curse all of Ayodhya if Lakshmana did not immediately inform Rama of his arrival. Lakshmana, in a dilemma, decided it would be better that he alone die to save all of Ayodhya from falling under Durvasa's curse, and so interrupted Rama's meeting to inform him of the sage's arrival. Rama quickly concluded his meeting with Death and received the sage with due courtesy. Durvasa told Rama of his desire to be fed, and Rama fulfilled his guest's request, whereupon the satisfied sage went on his way. Rama was overcome with sorrow, for he did not want to kill his beloved brother, Lakshmana. Still, he had given his word to Death and could not go back on it. He called his advisers to help him resolve this quandary. On Vasishta's advice, he ordered Lakshmana to leave him for good, since such abandonment was equivalent to death as far as the pious were concerned. Lakshmana then went to the banks of the Sarayu, resolved on giving up the world through Yoga. Unseen by anyone, Indra took him to heaven.

Legacy[link]

Killing of Indrajit Painting by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi

Lakshmana is revered for his absolute devotion to Rama. His performance of his duties as a younger brother is considered to be a sacrifice and superiority of character as such duties are especially hard to do in adverse conditions. Lakshmana's life symbolizes the duties of a man to his elders and superiors, and how greatly valued is seflessness in a man's character.

While he is generally considered to be rather short-tempered when compared to Rama, Lakshmana is also considered an important element of Mariyada Purushottama, displaying great courage and presence of mind when Rama becomes distraught, angry and desperate over the loss of Sita — in an uncharacteristic display of desperation, a furious and almost hopeless Rama, not knowing of Sita's fate or whereabouts, is suddenly about to fire a weapon capable of bringing vast devastation of life; Lakshmana stops Rama, calms him down, explains to him that the world is not responsible for their separation from Sita, and consoles and encourages his righteous brother, while giving him support and strength to keep looking for her.

When Sita's jewels were given back by Sugriva to Rama, Rama lamented Sita's absence, remembering the jewels she used to wear. Lakshamana then gave Sita's toe-ring to Rama in order to aid his grief. What was implied is that he has never looked beyond the toe of Sita. As a great respect to the discipline followed by Lakshmana, the great Tamil poet Kamban made the statement on his character that "a great person never looks desiringly upon another's wife."

as per Ramand Sagar's Sampoorna Ramayan it is Depicted that: Laxman is also known for slaying 3 of Ravana's sons the mighty warriors Prahast, Atikay and Indrajit all 3 of whom were renowned warriors in their own right especially Indrajit Who had won renowned fame for his Battle prowess. He is the only man to have survived the attack of The "Shakti Spear" thrown By Indra.

When Lord Vishnu was asked by devarishi Narad as to why the Lord was not disturbed by the fact that Laxman had been Gravely injured by Indrajit. at that time Lord Shiva answers the sage by saying that Shesha had the power to imbibe both Halal(poison) and Amrita(nectar) and as such could not be affected by the Shakti spear, but because the shakti spear was given to Indrajit after Pleasing Mata Shakti with his penance, So out of respect for Mata Shakti Laxman accepted the attack of the "shakt spear" on his chest.

The city of Lucknow was reportedly the ancient capital of Lakshmana and known as Lakshmanapura.

It is sincerely believed by the Vaishnavism a sect of ancient Vedic Hindu religion, that Aadi Sesha the divine snake over which God Vishnu resides took incarnation as Lakshmana, later as the great Vaishnavaitic saint and philosopher Sri Ramanuja, later once again as Sri Manavala Mamunigal as he is the embodiment of ultimate service to lord Almighty Sriman Narayana

See also[link]

• Bhagavata Purana
• Hare Rama
• Nityananda

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Lakshman as described in the Bhagavata Purana
• Lakshman described in the Caitanya Caritamrita

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Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao
Born	Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao (1946-08-10) August 10, 1946 (age 65) East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India
Residence	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Kondavalasa Lakshmanarao (Telugu: కొండవలస లక్ష్మణరావు), popularly known as Kondavalasa, is a popular Telugu Drama and Cine Actor who is famous as Comedian in Tollywood.

Background[link]

Before coming into films Kondavalasa was a popular Drama Artist, who has given more than 1000 stage performance^{[citation needed]}. Renowned Director Vamshi brought him into lime light by giving him an opportunity in his film Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru. After That he acted many Telugu Movies and got his own Identity in Tollywood.

Filmography[link]

External references[link]

• Lakshman Rao Kondavalasa at the Internet Movie Database
• An Interview With Kondavalasa

Prakash Raj
Born	Prakash Rai (1965-03-26) 26 March 1965 (age 47) Puttur, Karnataka, India
Residence	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Film actor, producer, Film director
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Lalitha Kumari (1994–2009 divorced) Pony Verma (2010–present)
Children	Meghana Pooja Sidhu (2000 – 20 March 2004)[1]

Prakash Rai (born 26 March 1965), better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning film actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films.He got introduced to films by K. Balachander in the movie Duet (1994). In remembrance, he named his production company "Duet Movies".^[2][3]

He has played a variety of roles, most notably as the antagonist in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil and of late, as a character actor. He is considered to be one amongst the club of natural actors. He has won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Mani Ratnam's Iruvar and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for his role in Kanchivaram, a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan.^[4]

Early life[link]

Prakash Raj was born to a ethnic Bunt^[5] family in Puttur, Karnataka on 26 March 1965. He did his schooling from St.Joseph's Indian High School in Bangalore. He later joined St. Josephs College of commerce, Bangalore, where he participated in many plays.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Prakash married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994. They have two daughters—Meghana and Pooja and a son, Sidhu.^[6] Sidhu died of injuries sustained in a fall in 2004. The couple divorced in 2009.^[7] He then married choreographer Pony Verma on August 24, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

As actor[link]

Prakash began his acting career with Kannada Doordarshan serials like Bisilu Kudure and Guddada Bhootha. He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films like Raamachari, Nishkarsha and Lockup Death. He was noticed for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in form of Harakeya Kuri starring Vishnuvardhan and Geetha, directed by K. S. L. Swamy. His performance in the movie was noticed by Geetha and she, in turn, introduced him to her mentor K. Balachander, a Tamil film director. He acted under the screen name "Prakash Rai" in Kannada films and was rechristened "Prakash Raj" by K. Balachander for his debut Tamil film Duet, which saw him playing his first major role.

Prakash Raj re-entered Kannada films through Nagamandala in 1997, directed by T.S. Nagabharana which was selected for Indian Panorama in the International Film Festival in 1997. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. In 1997, he acted in Mani Ratnam's biopic film Iruvar. The movie dealt with the relationship between politicians M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. One of Prakash Raj's greatest hits was his role in Telugu film Okkadu, where he played a gangster who is in love with the heroine. After Okkadu, Prakash Raj was flooded with offers. The film was remade in Tamil as Ghilli and in Kannada as Ajay starring Puneet Rajkumar. He starred in a malayalam film, Pandippada,with Dilip.His 2007 production Mozhi was a box-office hit and praised by critics proving that he can play a comedy role just as good as a negative character.

Mozhi, directed by Radha Mohan, was well acclaimed. He played an important role in Venkat Prabhu's Saroja which became a box-office success. In 2008 he produced a film titled Abhiyum Naanum and played an important character in it. He remade the movie in Kannada as Naanu Nanna Kanasu which was critically acclaimed as well.

As producer[link]

He took on the mantle of producer and has produced several movies in Tamil (Kollywood). Most of the movies he produced turned out to be box-office hits and were also critically acclaimed.^{[citation needed]} His movies are also considered as family entertainers. He produced the movie Dhaya in which he acted as the hero with actress Meena which was a hit and earned him a special jury award for his performance. His movie Poi (lie in English) directed by his mentor, K. Balachander, was a non-grosser. It starred Uday Kiran, K. Balachander and Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj had danced in the song "Kanchi Paanaiyin Maela" for his film Vellithirai.

His Kannada production Naanu Nanna Kanasu completed 100 days successfully across Karanataka. His next production venture, titled Akasmaath, is a remake of the Telugu hit Aithe and stars himself along with new actors. The movie is scheduled to go on floors in September 2010 to be directed by Dayal Padmanabhan. He made Puttakkana Highway in Kannada which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada in 2011.

As director[link]

Prakash Raj directed Naanu Nanna Kanasu in Kannada (2010), a remake of his own Tamil production Abhiyum Naanum.^[8] His next directorial venture is a Tamil – Telugu bilingual, sports venture Dhoni named after Indian cricket captain

Awards[link]

National Film Awards[link]

• 1998 – Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film Iruvar.^[9][10]
• 1999 – Special Jury Award for his performance in the Telugu film Anthapuram.^[10]
• 2003 – Special Jury Award for his roles in Tamil film Dhaya and Telugu film Khadgam.^[10]
• 2008 – Best Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film Kanchivaram.^[10]
• 2011 – Best Feature Film in Kannada for the Kannada film Puttakkana Highway (As producer)

Filmfare Awards South[link]

• 2002 – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) – Nuvve Nuvve
• 2003 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) – Tagore
• 2004 – Filmfare Best Villain Award (Tamil) – Ghilli
• 2005 – Filmfare Best Villain Award (Tamil) – Sivakasi
• 2009 – Filmfare Best Actor Award (Tamil) – Kanchivaram

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards[link]

• 2000 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain – Vaanavil
• 2005 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain – Various films

Zee Cine Awards[link]

• 2012 – Best Actor in a Negative Role- Singham

Apsara Awards 2012[link]

• 2012 – Best Actor in Negative Role- Singham

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Prakash Raj at the Internet Movie Database

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