Ramayan

After being initially rejected by Doordarshan due to perceived lack of interest in religious programming, the series quickly went on to become the most popular series in Indian television history, reaching over 100 million viewers each week. Its popularity reached a point of what the Indian news magazine India Today called "'Ramayan' fever", where religious services were rescheduled, buses, trains, and inter-city trucks were stopped, and shops would close every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. so that people would gather to watch the show. In villages, watching the show became a religious ritual unto itself. The show's popularity would remain the highest in history until a few years later, when Mahabharat (1988), also based on an ancient Hindu epic, would exceed its popularity.

After the sequel series Luv Kush (1988) ended, both the series were aired combined as "Sampurna Ramayan".