Lord Srirama was descended from his father King Dasaratha. He is considered the seventh Avatar (incarcination) of the Lord Vishnu. The story of his life is described in the epic Ramayana composed by Sage Valmiki. He is one of the primary gods in Hinduism and worshipped by every Hindu. He has three brothers named Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrugna.
Rama's life too had lot of ups and downs. After being trained in archery, He and Lakshmana spent most of their boyhood time in the hermitage of sage Vishwamitra guarding his Yagyas from the demons. After that when Vishwamitra was taking them to Mithila Lord Rama salved Ahilya who had been converted into a stone by the curse of her husband sage Gautam. In Mithila, Lord Rama broke the bow of Lord Shiva and won Sita(incarcination of Goddess Lakshmi) as his wife. When they returned to Ayodhya, King Dasharath decided to crown Rama as the new king. But misguided by Manthara, queen Kaikeyee stubbornly sought that her son Bharat should be crowned as the new king whereas Rama should be sent on an exile for fourteen years. Bounded by his promises that he had made to Kaikeyee earlier, King Dasharath had no choice but to accept her demands.
Thus to keep His father’s words, Lord Rama accepted the exile. Sita and Lakshmana also followed His steps. In the forests, the demon king Ravan deceitfully abducted Sita. It was followed by meeting of Rama with Hanumana and Sugreev, killing of Baali- Sugreev’s brother, finding of Sita by Hanumana in Lanka, bridging of the sea that separated Lanka, fierce battle with the demons and ultimately killing of Ravan by Lord Rama. After the completion of exile period Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya and ruled there for twelve years.
Lord Rama is also known as Maryadha Purushotham, the perfect man. He performed the Ashwamedha Yajna. Bharata, his younger brother, won the country of Gandhara and settled there. Rama's third brother, Lakshmana, founded Lakshmanpur, now known as Lucknow, and his youngest brother Shatrughna, Lakshmana's twin, was given Madhura which is now known as Mathura. Rama had two sons Lava and Kusha. Lakshman also had two sons - Angad and Chitraketu, Bharat had Taksh and Pushkal and Shatrughn had Subaahu and Shoorsen.The original name for 'Lahore' is 'Lavapura' and for Kusoor is 'Kushpura'. These cities were originally founded by Lava and Kush, respectively.
