The exile.

The whole of Kosala is in great delight with a noble king, his good wives, godly princes and their wives, and a great life for the citizens. At this juncture of time, Dasharatha decides to crown Rama the Yuvraj (crown prince) or the heir apparent to the Solar race's throne. The whole city is overjoyed at the announcement of the crown prince going to be declared the next day.
The whole kingdom is in a trance of extreme happiness. So are the queens Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra for their dear Rama. This is when the nurse of Kaikeyi, Mantra comes into action. She comes up to Kaikeyi and sets in her an insecurity regarding her son Bharatha. She, at first tries to dismiss Mantra's ideas as ones due to her hatred for Rama, but then slowly yields to her ideas. Then she devises a plan to prevent Dasharatha from crowning Rama as heir apparent.
Kaikeyi was Dasharatha's favourite wife and he used to take her with him for battles. Once, Dasharatha swooned due to some astra used at him, following which Kaikeyi fights and then nurses her husband. Dasharatha is pleased by this behaviour of hers, and then grants her two boons which she wants. Kaikeyi decides to use them later. Now, she decides to ask for the two boons.
When Dasharatha enters her private chamber, she was found lying on the bed, angry, and her hair put wide open, at the time of twilight. A woman's hair being left open at the time of twilight is said to be a sign of inauspiciousness, and Dasharatha is alarmed. He asks her for the reason, and she replies saying she wants her two boons now. Dasharatha agrees to grant them to her now. Then she puts forth her requests. Her first boon is that she wants Rama to be exiled to the forests for 14 years, and the second boon is that the second-born Bharatha should be made the heir apparent. Dasharatha is shocked. He couldn't refuse it as boons couldn't be refused. He develops an instant hatred towards Kaikeyi. He immediately moves to Kaushalya's chamber in tears. He calls for Rama and tells him what happens. The noble Rama decides to move because he didn't want his father's words to go wrong. Dasaratha loved and cherished Rama dearly, and was in personal turmoil. Completely estranged now from his younger wife, he abhors the prospect of separation from Rama. But Rama realizes that the king must not break a solemn promise at any time, and neither should a son disobey his father's command. Sita joins her husband in exile despite his discouraging her, as it is her duty and out of love for Rama that she must be at his side at all times. His brother Lakshmana initially is furious at Dasharatha and proceeds to kill him in spite of Dasharatha being his father. But Rama stops him and advises him saying what he is doing wasn't right according to Dharma. Then he volunteers to follow his brother into exile. Though Rama does not encourage this, he is unwilling to listen and takes leave of his wife Urmila asking her to take care of his mother Sumitra. She comforts her husband saying she would take absolute care of everything that needed to be done.
Rama, Lakshmana and Sita get dressed in deerskin and move for exile. Unable to bear the news of the exile, the whole of Ayodhya follows the trio. Dasharatha starts crying the name Rama once he makes an exit from the city. This leads to extreme gloom to him and Kaushalya. Then, he tells her he understands why he is suffering this disaster of a situation.
Many years ago, the king was a avid hunter. He was absolutely in love with the sport. He once went to hunt down deers. There he heard some sound near the pond, and being a class act with the bow, he shot an arrow presuming the sound was that of a deer. Then, he went up to check what his game was, only to find a young man on his death bed. The man's name was Shravan Kumar. He had come on a pilgrimage with his old blind parents. The parents had wanted some water and hence the son had come to collect some from the pond. He requested the king to give his parents the water and breathed his last. Then, the king with tears in his eyes gave the blind parents some water to drink, and then introduced himself to them, telling them the whole story. The parents were overcome with a huge amount of grief and they cursed Dasharatha saying, just as they did not have their beloved son by their side at this old age due to him, he will have to face the same difficulty with him being separated from his son in his last days, and they breathed their last.
Dasharatha remembered this incident and narrated it to Kaushalya. He realised that his end was near and he breathed his last that very night.
In the meanwhile, that night when everyone from Ayodhya was sleeping in the forest, Rama with Lakshmana and Sita, sleathily escaped after informing the charioteer Sumantra, asking him to take them home. They had to cross the Yamuna which was in spate, and the forest chieftain called Guhan helped them cross the river, and gave them fruits, nuts and what else he could afford to eat. Highly impressed, Rama considered him one of his closest associates and gave him a position in his heart, as high as that of his other three brothers.
Bharatha and Shatrughna, who were at Bharatha's uncle's place in Kekaya were called immediately. When he came home and saw the whole of Ayodhya in gloom, he could not make anything out of it. When he went and asked his mother, she told him what had happened. Then Bharatha got furious at her, and told her that he was immediately going to restore the throne to his brother Rama. He left at once for the forests. When Bharatha met Rama, he had an emotional outburst, with which he gave Rama a hug and cried, asking for him to forgive his mother. Rama in his humble best said that it was his duty to listen to Kaikeyi and he was nobody to forgive her. Then Bharatha tells him that he wants to kill Kaikeyi. But then Rama again advises him to give his mother the respect she deserves. Then, he asks Rama if he could accompany him as part of the exile. But, Rama tells him that his duty to lead the nation is extremely important and hence he should lead it till he returns to Ayodhya. Then Bharatha says he would be unable to rule his brother's land and hence he asks for Rama's sandals. He takes Rama's sandles on his head, to a place it on a throne in the place called Nandigram in the outskirts of Ayodhya, and he ruled the nation on the sandal's behalf from this place after completing his father's last rites. In fact, he decided he would go to Ayodhya only after Rama came in there. It is said that after Rama, he was the symbol of dharma and idealism. A few commentators, however, deem Bharata to be even greater than Lord Rama himself in virtue.Vasishtha proclaims that no one had better learnt dharma than Bharata,and for this piety he forms an essential part of the conception of perfect manhood, of the Seventh Avatara of Vishnu.
Then, Rama travels extensively, among the forests and visits many temples, which gain further significance due to his arrival. He then stays in the hermitage of sage Bharadwaja for a few years where the sage suggests he makes Chitrakuta the abode of his exile. Then, Rama moves to Chitrakuta where he spends eleven and a half years of his exile. Then one fine day, he decides to visit lord Tryambakeshwar of Nashik. Then, when he visits the place, he sets up a hermitage in Panchavati in the outskirts of Nashik, and lives a peaceful life there for a couple of years.