The Hindu Legend of Rama

The 10,000 Year Pearl Necklace of Rama Production Number 4-05 (125) Airdate November 7, 2021 Team Blue Barracudas Contestants Nick & Joshua Artifact Location The Room of the Beloved Temple Layout XVI Previous Episode The Nyanga Legend of Mwindo Next Episode ‎‎The Norse Legend of Freyja The Hindu Legend of Rama (a.k.a. The 10,000 Year Pearl Necklace of Rama) is the fifth episode of the reboot version and the 125th episode overall of Legends of the Hidden Temple. Storyline This story comes from the Ramayana, the sacred Hindu epic of the story of Rama. Young Rama travels to a neighboring kingdom where Sita, a princess of unparalleled beauty and strength, is holding a competition to find a husband. A mighty bow left to her ancestors by the god, Shiva, has gone unstrung for generations. She will marry the man who can string it. Rama not only strings the bow, he draws it back and breaks it in two. Cristela: Oh, snap. Olmec: Indeed. And the wedding is on. Ten years pass and Rama's father is ready to retire, leaving his kingdom to Rama. But this decision does not sit well with one of the king's other wives, who reminds him he promised her son would be next in line. Unable to deny her, the king banishes Rama and Sita to the forest, where they go on the most epic quest. Cristela: So, what does a pearl necklace have to do with it? Olmec: Shall I skip to the end of the story and tell it backwards? Moat Crossing Like Rama, to prove your strength, you must string Shiva's bow with three bow strings. When Cristela gives the signal, swim to either end of the giant bow, where you will find discs attached to the ends of several bow strings. Describe a symbol on one disc to your teammate, who must find its match. Swim the discs to the middle of the bow, connect them, and try to string the bow. If you are correct, the string will fit perfectly. But if the bow string sags or is too short, try again. Once you have thrice strung Shiva's bow, exit the moat to find a real bow, and like Rama, break it in two. Then you may hit your gong. The first three teams to hit their gong will continue their quest. The last team is out. Moat Results Finish Team First Orange Iguanas Second Blue Barracudas Third Red Jaguars Steps of Knowledge Banished to the forest, Rama takes his faithful wife, Sita, his half-brother Lakshmana, and his magic bow and quiver with unlimited arrows. He and Lakshmana hunt for days until they come upon a bloodthirsty demon named Surpanakha, who finds Rama irresistible. Rama politely declines the advances. So, Surpanakha turns her affections to Lakshmana, who promptly… cuts off her nose. Infuriated at the diss, she calls on one of her brothers to defend her honor. He sends an army of 14,000 soldiers to attack Rama, who singlehandedly defeats them all. Surpanakha runs to another brother, Ravana, the evil 10-headed ruler of Lanka, who hatches a plan to get to Rama by kidnapping and killing Sita. So, he disguises another demon as a beautiful golden deer. Sita sees it and wants it. "Rama, be a dear. Bring me that golden deer." Rama smells something fishy. So, he draws a magical protective circle around his wife. "As long as you stay in this circle, you will be safe." He heads out with his brother to bring back the deer. Meanwhile, Ravana dons a disguise of a holy man begging for food, and goes to Sita for help. The well-meaning Sita leaves the protective circle just enough for Ravana to grab her and whisk her to his flying chariot. Rama and Lakshmana return with the golden deer to find Sita gone. Steps of Knowledge Results Question Answers Team How many heads does Ravana have? Ten Blue Barracudas (Correct - Two steps left) Ravana sends a demon to distract Sita, disguised as a golden what? Deer Blue Barracudas (Correct - One step left) Emperor Shah Jahan built which of these famous tourist sites as a mausoleum to immortalize his wife? Taj Mahal Orange Iguanas (Correct - Two steps left) What is Rama's little brother's name? Lakshmana Orange Iguanas (Correct - One step left) Known for its huge musical productions, India's film industry is often referred to as what? Bollywood Red Jaguars (Correct - Two steps left) The king banishes Rama to which of these locations? The forest Blue Barracudas (Correct - Advanced to the Temple Games) Rama defeats an army of how many soldiers? 14,000 Orange Iguanas (Correct - Advanced to the Temple Games) Temple Games Gem Puzzle (Time Trial) Ravana whisks Sita to his flying chariot to take her back to Lanka to use her as bait to get to Rama. But the ever-resourceful Sita breaks off her necklace and secretly drops precious gems to monkeys below, leaving Rama a path to find her. Unfortunately, before Rama can follow the trail, the monkeys hide the gems. So, you must find replacements and put them under the right trees so Rama can find the way. When Cristela gives the signal, one player run to a tree and look for a clue to the missing gem. Relay the clue to your teammate on top of the mountain, who must slide down to that gem barrel and find the match. Take the gem back up the mountain and throw it to your teammate to place it on the right tree. Return the four gems, and then you may hit your gong to stop the clock. The team that returns the gems the fastest, wins. Monkey Quest (Head-to-Head) Rama stops at the Monkey Kingdom to conscript the General Hanuman to help him find Sita. Hanuman is a flying monkey and locates Sita in Ravana's lair. But she thinks Hanuman is actually Ravana in yet another disguise. She demands Rama come rescue her himself. So, Rama and Hanuman assemble an army of flying monkeys who build a causeway over the ocean to Ravana's lair. In this game, you are Rama, assembling your army of flying monkeys, and building the causeway. When Cristela gives the signal, one of you start building the causeway by placing a plank between the first two pillars. Your teammate must use that slinging device to build your monkey army by launching a flying monkey to you that you must catch in the air. Walk back across the causeway without falling off, hand the monkey to your partner, and swap roles. Repeat the process until the causeway is complete and you have five monkeys in your army. Then go back over the road one final time without falling off, and run over and hit your gong. The first team to hit their gong… wins. Temple Games Results Team Game 1 Game 2 Final Score Blue Barracudas Won Won 2 Pendants Orange Iguanas Lost Lost 0 Pendants The End of the Story Rama and his monkey army descend on Ravana's lair. But Ravana escapes in his flying chariot. So, Rama gives chase, and pierces his heart with divine arrows that kill him. Rama frees Sita, and Hanuman flies them all back home, where Rama is finally crowned king. He gives Sita a pearl necklace to replace the one she used as breadcrumbs, and they rule together for 10,000 years. Temple Run Frontrunner Nick took the lower door in the Crystal Cenote to the Crypt of the Heartless where he met his first Temple Guard. He found the heart quickly and entered the Pit of Despair. He tried both top doors only to find them locked so he entered the Dark Forest only to be confronted by… Kirk Fogg! Unfazed by the surprise appearance, Nick continued up the Ladder of Death to the Queen's Armory. After dressing the Queen, he reached the Room of the Lost Treasure where he met his second Temple Guard. Joshua made good time through the temple, despite stopping for a quick handshake with Kirk Fogg in the Dark Forest. He found the jade stone in the Room of the Lost Treasure and solved the Shrine of the Silver Monkey to unlock the Room of the Beloved. He grabbed the pearl necklace with roughly nine seconds to go, but ran out of time as he was just behind Olmec. Temple Run Results Victory No (but nearly) Reached the Artifact Yes Temple Guard Locations The Crypt of the Heartless The Room of the Lost Treasure Notes This episode marks the first of a few things. The first episode of the reboot to feature former contestants. The first episode of the reboot where the team retrieves the artifact, but fails to escape in time. The first appearance of Kirk Fogg in the reboot series. The first reboot appearance of the Orange Iguanas. This marks the closest temple victory in the reboot series, with time expiring when Joshua was about to pass Olmec. This mirrors the closest original temple victory in The Broken Wing of Icarus. This episode's legend is similar to The Pearl Necklace of Gwalior from the original series. Coincidentally, both episodes involved the Blue Barracudas going after very similar artifacts. This and The Irish Legend of Ću Chulainn are the only two episodes of the reboot series where a player grabs onto the artifact but fails to escape the Temple in time. Nick and Joshua were both interviewed on a podcast called: "Splat Attack Podcast". In which they talk about their time on the original series and the reboot series. Additionally, they were also featured in the same podcast to celebrate Legends of the Hidden Temple's 30th Anniversary.