Rama is a large cylindrical spacecraft designed for the transportation of large numbers of alien life forms. It uses rotation to generate gravity and has a reactionless drive system.

On it's first visit to our solar system, a group of humans visited it, explored it and went home before it dove into the sun to refuel then left. Humanity went crazy and entered into a massive depression.

The ship came back many years later. A group of humans visited it, had sex, killed a few of their number off, tried to blow up the ship, some of them went back to Earth, three remained on board and managed to warn it of the oncoming nukes. Much sex and strange aliens (not together mind you) ensued.

The ship came back AGAIN, picked up a few hundred humans bound for Mars. MUCH more sex, murder and drug use ensued. Humans who had managed to Behave Yourself were given the choice of going back to Earth or going to a big space station, all the others were sent back.


I strongly recomend the story of the first visit Rendezvous with Rama the later books, and a sequel which doesn't directly involve the Rama spacecraft, had too much sex and violence, and not enough of the cool aliens.

This is a brand of margarine in Germany. Till recently, its TV commercials were horrible at best. Like most margarines, it's not a very exciting product. Basically, it's just edible grease.

(Hinduism, Sanksrit)

  • Parashurama, or Bhrigupati;
  • Balarama, brother of Krishna; or
  • Ramachandra, "the reservoir of all pleasure"), as well as being a historical figure in Indian and Sri Lankan history, is also regarded by Hindus as the seventh avatara of Vishnu and his eighteenth purusha incarnation. He is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam, thus:

    "nara-devatvam apannah
    sura-karya-cikirshaya
    samudra-nigrahadini
    cakre viryany atah param

    In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rama. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist King Ravana, who was on the other side of the sea."

    Bhag., Canto 1, Ch. 3, Text 22

    "asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesha
    ikshvaku-vamsha avatirya guror nideshe
    tishthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesha
    yasmin virughya dasha-kandhara artim arcchat...

    Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supereme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Ikshavaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of his father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ulimately vanquished..."

    Bhag., Canto 2, Ch. 7, Text 23, et. seq.

    << back to "Incarnations of Vishnu"

Rama is a title given to Thai kings of the currently ruling Chakri dynasty. As there have so far been nine kings, each can be called Rama I, II etc, up to the current Rama IX.

The practice of calling the kings Rama was adopted by Vajiravudh, also known as Rama VI, who was aware that farang - foreigners - had difficulty pronouncing the long honorific titles that most Thai use to refer to their monarchs. Why Rama? After the hero of the pan-Asian epic, the Ramayana, or Ramakien, as it is known in Thai.

All the Ramas so far:

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.