Ramayan (1987 TV series)

Ramayan (also known as Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan) is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on ancient Indian Sanskrit Epic Ramayana. The show was created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar. It originally aired between 1987 and 1988 on DD National and it was narrated by Ashok Kumar and the director Ramanand Sagar. The music was composed by Ravindra Jain. During its run, the show became the most watched television series in the world, garnering a viewership of 82 percent. The repeat telecast was aired on 20 different channels in 17 countries on all the five continents at different times. The success of the series was documented well by the media. According to BBC, the serial has been viewed by over 650 million viewers. Each episode of the series reportedly earned DD National ₹40 lakh.

The show is primarily based on Valmiki's Ramayan and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas. Other sources used were: Tamil Kamba Ramayanam, Marathi Bhavartha Ramayana, Bengali Krutivas Ramayan, Telugu Ranganatha Ramayanam, Kannada Ramachandra Charita Purana, Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayanam, Urdu Ramayan by Chakbast. Ramayan was the most expensive Indian TV show produced at the time with a budget of ₹9 lakh per episode.

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." The series was re-aired during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown and broke several viewership records globally; the show became the most watched TV show in the world with 77 million viewership on 16 April 2020.