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RAVANA the mighty king

MISUNDERSTAND: Ravana appears in the Ramayana as the demon-king of Lanka and the principal antagonist of Rama.

In all versions of the Ramayana, he is vanquished and killed by Rama in a ferocious battle where both are compelled to call upon all the resources at their command, including the most awesome weapons.

If Rama stands forth as a shining example of the virtuous ruler, Ravana is, in the common imagination, the very sign of evil. In Hindi, for instance, a man who behaves wickedly is described as behaving like Ravana.

But modern historians say that Ravana is clearly misunderstood. He is not regarded as a demon any more. He


GREAT KING: Ravana as he appears in a renovated old painting in the temple of Vaidyanatha, Bihar

 was born of a Brahmin father and a Rakshasa (Sanskrit for demon) mother. In him were imbibed the knowledge and greatness of a Brahmin coupled with the strength and valour of a Rakshasa.

Ravana was one of the greatest Brahmins of his day. It is said that, so great was Ravana’s “Thava Valimai” (aura/energy/power), that Lord Brahma used to visit him every morning and pay obeisance to him. On Ravana’s ability as a Veena player, it is said that he could melt a mountain with his Veena skills.

A romantic? Perhaps the greatest. Rajagoplachari has a lot to say about Ravana’s romantic aspect. Ravana used to get the woman of his desire and he could go to any length to do so.

There are Indian traditions, too, where Ravana is not only vindicated as a figure of immense moral and physical strength, but where he appears as the chief protagonist of the Ramayana. His immense penance, learning, and devotion to Brahma earned him the latter’s gratitude.

Brahma conferred on Ravana the boon of near invulnerability, making him immune from destruction by gods or (other) demons; he also acquired the capacity to change his form, and in the Ramayana he is described as having 10 heads and 20 arms. He was endowed with the strength of moving the seas and splitting the tops of mountains.

No one who has read the Ramayana could have failed to wonder why Ravana, who lusted after Sita and kept her in captivity for years, did not violate her.

He repeatedly urged her to become his wife; but she was just as persisting in refusing his advances. Devout


KIDNAP: Jataya tries to rescue Sita from Ravana
(Mural painting at Wat Ohra Si Satsadaram Temple, Thailand)

 readers are prone to the interpretation that Sita’s purity made her inviolable. Yet Ravana had the advantage of strength, and she was his captive.

The Ramayana itself suggests a number of other readings. It is said that one of Ravana’s wives dissuaded him from violating Sita.

Ravana himself is said to have been incapacitated by a curse to the effect that if he made any attempt to molest her, he would be reduced to ashes.

And it is even possible to argue that, having kidnapped her, Ravana wished to have Sita for himself only if she gave her consent; to do otherwise was to abandon the badge of honour that he, the mightiest of the asuras or demons, carried.

What is remarkable is his extraordinary discipline: right beside him, subject to his overwhelming power, was a woman for whom he had a burning desire, and yet he restrained himself.


GUARDIAN: Totsakanth (Ravana)’s sculpture as a guardian of Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand

Certainly some interpreters, such as the nineteenth-century Bengali writer, Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873), have been inclined to the view that Ravana displayed the qualities of masculinity, honour, consistency, reliability, and justice to a greater extent than did Rama.

Places in Sri Lanka

There are many places in Sri Lanka associated with the Ramayana. The epic was written in Sanskrit about 4500 years ago and tells us of places far back in history in pre-Vijayan times. The legend of Rama and Sita is well known. The story somewhat resembled the Trojan-Greek war.

Sirancee Gunawardene in one of her articles elaborates these places. “Ravana had his capital in Ravana Kotte, which can be identified as part of the Southern Bases on the south eastern coast.

Here, he is said to have had a strange fortress with battlements where he held the beautiful Sita prisoner. She remained here unbending and upright. Now waves cover this area, but a part of the fortress could be seen from time to time”.

“Later, Ravana took Sita from Ravana Kotte for greater security to the smallest plateau of Nuwara Eliya and to a


MIGHTY: Ravana lifting mount Kailash - Ellora Caves, Maharashtra

 locality known as Asoka Aramaya a pleasure garden which had beautiful scenery and dense of forest surrounding it. Asoka trees flowered there. Sita Eliya on the outskirts of Nuwara Eliya is associated with Sita. Hanuman also came here looking for Sita”.

“When Rama’s army was approaching, Ravana again moved Sita to a dense forested area. In Uva, at the base of a mountain crag 4500 feet above sea level is the Ravana Ella cave. Ella is seven miles from Bandarawela and is a beautiful place to visit. At the base of a precipitous ravine is the Ella Gap, which you can see if you go to the Ella Rest House.

This is the famous cave where Ravana hid Sita. There is thick jungle here and wild and unspoiled mountain wilderness”.

“The picturesque Ravana Ella falls is a little distance away. It is one of the wildest looking waterfalls. The water falls in torrents down the Ella gorge and cascades down a forest glade. Sita is said to have roamed around in captivity in this area and bathed in a pool within a rock by the swirling waters of the Ravana Falls”.

“Ravana’s place is said to have been at Maligawa Tenna, near Welimada. It is now a paddy field but ancient stone


MYSTIQUE: Ravana Ella in Sri Lanka

work, brick and granite slabs have been found here”.

“The epic battle would have taken place in upper Uva on the mountain side. This area throbs with the majesty of the wilderness and some point to dents on the boulders where Rama’s firearms struck.”

On one hand, Ravana serves as an antagonist and villain in the Ramayana and on the other, as a great noble man. Above all, any sensible reader who reads Ramayana will consider him as a reformer, a revolutionary and just ruler.

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