A look at the sacred geography of Jharkhand, a patient hearing to the adapted versions of the Ramayana in Mundari, Birhor and Santhal languages, and a dive into the politics of its overwhelming spread take us to the hilly terrains of orality, where once perhaps Ravan used to worship Lord Shiva. Kunal Shahdeo, a scholar at IIT-Bombay, who works on Hinduisation of Adivasis in Jharkhand, says, “If we look at the sacred geography of Jharkhand, we would find Shaivite, Shakti and Vaisnavite shrines and Deoris (small temples) spread across Jharkhand. Hence, some forms of what we today call Hinduism have been present in Jharkhand since the ages. Also, a large population of Hindus locally called Sadans, settled in Jharkhand in precolonial era, brought with them Hindu practices of the plains. The socio-cultural interactions between Sadans and Adivasis led to the spread of popular Hinduism among Adivasis.” Notably, the myths floated in oral histories related to the Ramayana in this region mostly connect it to the presence of Shiva. It reflects what Shahdeo attributes to the prevalence of Shaivite culture. However, the available Ram Kathas in different Austro-Asiatic languages depict different stories of omissions and adoptions. Belgian Jesuit scholar Camille Bulcke in his thesis titled “Ramkatha ki Utpatti Aur Vikas (The Genesis and Development of Ramkatha)” presented snippets of different Ramayana(s) available across Mundari, Birhor or Santhali languages. Popular Hindi writer and IAS officer Ranendra Kumar while speaking to Outlook says, “Sarat Chandra Roy in 1924 wrote a book on Birhor community. Current population of Birhors across Jharkhand is not more than 11–12,000. So, what would have been their population during the 1920s when Roy conducted the interviews could be anyone’s guess. Even then the reference to Ram, Sita and Lakhsman came several times.” It shows, as Kumar notes, the deep-rooted existence of the Ramayan in this region. Referring to Bulcke’s snippets of Santhali Ramayan, Kumar adds, “In Santhali tradition of the Ramayana we find that Ram stayed among Santhals during his return journey from the war. He founded a Shiv Mandir there and worshipped along with Sita.” Interestingly, in Birhor Ramayan, the glorification of Ram is not that vivid. According to Kumar, “Sita, in Birhor Ramayan is a daughter of an ailing mother. Once, Sita playfully broke the bow of Lord Shiva forcing Janak to decide that a person with that much strength could only be her competent partner. In Birhor Ramayan, Ravan was given such a dignified place where he could be killed only by a person with the power of 12 years’ uninterrupted meditation. Interestingly, in this Ramayan, Laxman killed Ravan, not Ram.”