RARE COLLECTORS ITEM. FIRST PUBLISHED-1916. In India and the Far East, the story of Rama, Sita and Hanuman is not just an ancient classic; it is a mystique and a myth that has provided inspiration for the entire cultural framework of southeast Asia for four millennia. At the beginning of this country, Balasaheb Pant, Raja of the State of Aundh in Maharashtra, undertook the preparation of an illustrated summary of this ancient epic. In the rich tradition of Indian rulers who wielded the pen with facility, he was a writer as well as an artist. His creation, visual and verbal, concretised the major events in the Ramayana of the sage Valmiki and was hailed both in the East and the West as a significant artistic achievement. It was first published in 1916.