RamayanaAyodhya Kanda: The book of Ayodhya
Ayodhya Kanda of the Ramayana (the book of ayodhya): a summary of the story in plain words, book 2 of 7: The exile of Rama, the boons of Kaikeyi and the devotion of Bharata.
Dasharatha decides to crown Rama as the heir. The queen Kaikeyi, who has been turned against the plan by her maid Manthara, remembers two boons the king once promised her and asks for them: that Bharata be crowned, and that Rama be exiled to the forest for fourteen years. Dasharatha, bound by his word, is broken-hearted, and Rama accepts the exile calmly to keep his father's promise. Sita and Lakshmana insist on going with him. The people of Ayodhya follow them to the river, and Rama crosses the Ganga with the help of the boatman Guha. Dasharatha dies of grief. Bharata, who was away, returns, rejects the crown, goes to the forest to ask Rama to return, and when Rama refuses to break his father's word, he takes Rama's sandals and rules in his name from Nandigram, living as an ascetic.
This is book 2 of the seven books (kandas) of the Ramayana. See all seven and the characters.
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A retelling in our own words of a story that is told in many different ways across India and Asia. Tellers differ on many episodes; where it matters we say so. It is not a scholarly translation.