Ashok Kumar Banker's internationally acclaimed Ramayana Series® has been hailed by critics as a ‘milestone’ (India Today) and a ‘magnificently rendered labour of love’ (Outlook). It is arguably the most popular English-language retelling of the ancient Sanskrit epic. His work has been published in 56 countries, a dozen languages, several hundred reprint editions with over 1.1 million copies of his books currently in print.
With the Ramayana Series® Banker embarked on a massively ambitious publishing project he calls the Epic India Library. Returning to the roots of the great ancient tales that have inspired countless authors and filmmakers, Banker sought to reclaim the original stories through a series of multi-volume retellings as well as original fiction and non-fiction. The Krishna Coriolis series, of which the first three books have been published, and the Mahabharata Series (of which this book is the first in an 18-volume series) are part of this project.
Ashok Banker is credited with having heralded the resurgence of public interest in Indian mythology, for being the author of the first Indian TV series in English and co-writer of the first Malaysian TV series in English, and author of the first Indian e-book, among other firsts. He is one of the few living Indian authors whose contribution to Indian literature is acknowledged in The Picador Book of Modern Indian Writing and The Vintage Anthology of Indian Literature.
Ashok is 48 years old and lives with his family in Mumbai.