[7] When the series was telecast every Sunday morning, BBC recalled, "streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began.

[9][10][11][12][13] Adapted and based on the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, the series follows the journey of Ram who goes to an exile of 14 years along with Sita and Lakshman.

In Ayodhya, a childless Dashrath conducts a putrakameshthi yagna for children and as a result, his three wives gives birth to 4 sons.

Later, he takes the two brothers to Mithila to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva's bow at the swayamvar of Princess Sita.

Next day, Shri Ram wins the swayamvar by breaking Lord Shiva's bow and marriage is fixed.

In due time, Bharat and Shatrughna leave for Kekeya to meet their grandfather and meanwhile, Dashrath decides to announce Ram as his heir.

Bharat completes his father's final rites and along with whole Ayodhya, leaves to bring back Shri Ram and Sita.

Bharat asks for Shri Ram's sandals and places it on the throne and leaves for Nandigram to live the life of an ascetic for 14 years.

On their way, they meet Mata Anasuya who give Sita lessons on wife's duty and also gifts her a divine saree whose colour never fades and some jewellery which she got from Gods as a result of her devotion towards her husband.

They meet Rishi Agastya who give them never-ending arrows for future purpose.Shri Ram,Sita and Lakshman decides to stay in Panchvati for the last year of exile.

Furious at the rejection, she attacks Sita in an attempt to kill her but Lakshman cuts her nose while defending his sister in law.

[7] Writing for the Indian Express upon completion of the airing of the series' final episode, former bureaucrat S. S. Gill wrote that it was during his tenure as the secretary with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in September 1985 that he contacted Ramanand Sagar in association with the project.

He added that in a letter to Sagar, he had written about the Ramayana as a subject for the television series was ideal in that it was "a repository of moral and social values" and that its message was "secular and universal".

He further wrote that he had noted in the letter that Sagar's "real challenge would lie in seeing the epic "with the eyes of a modern man and relating its message to the spiritual and emotional needs of our age".

The photoshoot happened with the look and make-up but I wasn’t looking like Lord Ram... Then we thought of adding a smile and then everything got sorted.Govil expressed his desire to play Rama and appeared for a screen test.

[26] Several other famous actresses were approached as well but all of them backed off due to the prevalent premonition that playing the role of Lady Sita would blemish their romantic appeal resulting doom to their on-screen career.

[31][32] It was re-telecast again between March and April 2020 during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India on DD National and broke all records for viewership globally for any TV show.

[37][38][39][40] After just few episodes had been released, the show received widespread critical acclaim for Ramanand Sagar's writing and direction as well as its casting and Ravindra Jain's music.

D. K. Bose, the media director of Hindustan Thompson Associates, remarked, "The unique thing about the Ramayana was its consistency.

The viewership was more than 50 percent even in the predominantly non-Hindi speaking southern Indian States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Soutik Biswas of BBC recalled that when the series was telecast every Sunday morning, "streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began.

"[8] Writing for the Telegraph, William Dalrymple noted, "In villages across south Asia, hundreds of people would gather around a single set to watch the gods and demons play out their destinies.

In the noisiest and most bustling cities, trains, buses and cars came to a sudden halt, and a strange hush fell over the bazaars.

"[41] Regarding initial apprehensions about the series being aired by a government-owned broadcaster, its hitherto producer Sharad Dutt said that "a lot of people within the channel's office weren't supportive of the idea, to begin with.

[42] Sharma noted that the political clout the series held could be adjudged by the fact that Sagar and Arun Govil (who played Rama) "were repeatedly courted by both the Congress and the BJP to campaign for them."

Arun Govil, Deepika Chikhalia (Sita), and Arvind Trivedi (Ravana) all went on to become members of parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

While the media and cultural commentators struggled to consider Sagar's epic one way or the other, there were some who saw it as a catalyst, even if unintended, to the turmoil that the movement resulted in.

[49] Ramayan garnered a total of 170 million viewers in first 4 shows during which DD National became the most watched Indian television channel after many years.

[54][55][56] A follow-up series Luv Kush based on the last chapter of Ramayana Uttara Kanda, aired in October 1988 on DD National.