The story of Ram also finds itself in popular literature: there is Kalidas%u201Anarative poem, the Raghuvamsham, Bhasas's play, Pratimanataka, and Bhavabhuti%u201As highly critical Uttararamcharita. It has a place in the literature of regional languages too - in Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi. Each of these contain minor variations. The story of Ram continued to grow in popularity more because it was a tale well told and less because of its merits as a religious text. By the 8th century AD there was a corresponding growth of small kingdoms as waste lands were brought under cultivation and forest tribes (the rakshasas of the Ramayan) were subjugated by the new rulers of these small kingdoms.
For Hindus who have always believed that their religion has a different meaning for different people, this is a hard new reality to be swallowed. And this is perhaps why the Hindutva votaries are not converted to The Cause, they must be won over by the presentation of "facts" and "documentary evidence".
