At that moment, the world stopped. Lakhs of households were transported to Ayodhya, the battlefield of Kurukshetra, or the mystical forests of ancient India.

He is the OG binge-worthy director. For Millennials: He is the soundtrack of our childhood Sundays.

Yet, despite his success in masala entertainment, his heart lay elsewhere: in the epics he grew up listening to from his grandmother. In the mid-1980s, Doordarshan was the only channel in India. When the government decided to bring mythology to the state broadcaster, the pressure was immense. Ramanand Sagar took on the Herculean task of adapting Valmiki’s Ramayana for television.

For millions of Indians growing up in the late 1980s and 90s, Sunday mornings had a sacred ritual. The entire family would gather around a single television set, the aroma of tea and fresh breakfast filling the room, as a familiar, divine chime began to play.

The show broke every record. It achieved a staggering —a number that is statistically impossible for any show to achieve today in the age of streaming.

Today, every time a new mythological web series drops on Netflix or Prime Video, they are walking in the path paved by Ramanand Sagar. He didn't just make a show; he built a temple of light and sound inside every home.