As a child I was never told stories of how Ram died or how Krishna died. There were whispers here and there but no images on temple walls. I found these stories much later in life. In the Ramayana, Ram dies by walking into the river Sarayu unable to live after Sita disappears into the earth. In the Mahabharata, Krishna dies when he is accidentally shot by a hunter who mistakes his toe for a deer’s snout.

Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik