Im hindu and proud of being one. However, I agree with ASI in that there is no evidence to prove that Ram was indeed a living soul. Ramayana is a fantastic tale with brilliant characters composed by Valmiki, much like Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. The compelling story brought the characters to life to the extent that thousands of years later we have started to rever a storybook character as God.
Infact if you read read Ramayana carefully there is a character 'Javali' who constantly reminds Rama that he is only mortal and there is no life after death, so he should do what he thinks is right and not be swayed by what people say to him. That is a way of Valmiki reminding the readers to look at Rama only as a very noble man but not God!
Im not saying we disrespect Ramayana, as it is a part of our proud heritage, a great story written over 3000 years ago when the so called Western Civilisation was full of barbarians. However let us get a story book stand in the way of our progress
