RAVANA
Ravana the King of LANKA
was the reason for the birth of Lord Ram and the vishnu Avatar of Ram as a
human. Who was this df ASURA? What mad him so powerful? That the Gods could not
kill him and sent Lord Ram as an ASSASSIN. The continuation of my Paper ( and
BOOK)
Rama (or Ramacandra) is the seventh avatar of
the Hindu god Vishnu. His adventures include the slaying of the demon
king Ravana which is recounted in the Vana Parva of
the Mahabharata and
in the Ramayana, the oldest Sanskrit epic, written sometime in the 5th century BCE
but with some later additions.
Lord
Rama, considered by many Hindus to be based on an historical figure, is perhaps
the most virtuous hero from Hindu mythology and he, along with his wife Sita, are a picture
of purity and marital devotion. Further, the adventures of Rama illustrate
above all the importance and rewards of fulfilling one's pious duty or dharma.
Rama's
Family
Rama's
father is King Dasaratha, a prince of the solar race, and his mother is Queen
Kausalya. Rama was born at the end of the Second Age or Treta-yuga and
he came into the world specifically at the bidding of the gods to deal with the
fearsome multi-headed demon Ravana, the king of Lanka (modern Sri Lanka). The
great god Vishnu answered the gods' call and appeared in a sacrificial fire
made by Dasaratha. The pious king was presented with a pot of nectar, and he
gave half of it to Kausalya who produced half-divine Rama as a consequence. Rama
had three half-brothers – Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna - all with some,
albeit lesser, divine qualities. Rama's favourite brother and great companion
was Laksmana, son of Sumitra, while his loyal servant was the monkey
warrior Hanuman (or Hanumat).
Rama
Meets Sita
Rama's
first adventure occurred when the sage Visvamitra asked for help in fighting a
demon or raksasa. Rama and Laksmana, leaving their childhood home
at Ayodhya capital of the northern kingdom of Koshala, followed Visvamitra to
his home and there killed Taraka, a terrible female demon. In gratitude Rama
was given divine weapons, and he set off for more adventures, ending up in
Mithila. There Janaka the king of Videha hosted our hero, and he met the king's
beautiful daughter Sita (also called Janaki or Maithili). The king had promised
the princess in marriage to anyone who could manage to bend a huge bow which
had once been the weapon of the great god Shiva. Rama, with his divine strength, did more than just
bend the bow but broke it in half and so won the hand of Sita, his first and
most revered wife.
'RAMA, THE BEST OF UPHOLDERS OF DHARMA, THE MASTER OF
THE WORLD' RAMAYANA
Rama's Exile
Rama's
succession to the throne of Ayodhya was made difficult by his mother's
hunchback slave Manthara. Jealous of Rama, she soured the opinion of Kaikeyi,
Dasaratha's second wife, and convinced her to persuade her husband to instead
make Bharata heir to the throne. On top of this slight Rama was exiled from the
kingdom for fourteen years. So, accompanied by Sita and his ever faithful
companion Laksmana, Rama went to live in the far south in Citrakuta, deep in
the Dandaka forest. Meanwhile, Dasaratha died, but Bharata, seeing the
injustice of Rama's treatment, decided not to become king but instead to search
for and return Rama to his rightful home and birthright. When the two brothers
met once again, Rama obstinately refused to return to Ayodhya until he had
fulfilled his father's wishes and served out his fourteen years of exile. After
much discussion, Bharata agreed to act as regent until that time, and to prove
to his subjects Rama's decision, he took his brother's shoes as a symbol of
Rama's royal status.
Rama & Ravana Clash
Rama
did not stay still in the remainder of his exile but visited many sages.
Eventually, he ended up at Pancavati along the river Godavari, an area plagued
by demons. One in particular, Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, fell in love
with Rama, and when her advances were resisted, she attacked Sita in revenge.
Laksmana was the first to react and cut off the ears and nose of Surpanakha.
Not best pleased with this treatment, the enraged demoness gathered an army of
demons to attack the trio. In an epic battle Rama defeated them all; however, Surpanakha was
not finished with the matter and she persuaded Ravana that Sita was a girl
worth fighting for. Accordingly, the demon king sought out Rama's home, and
while Rama was distracted in the hunt for a deer (who was actually Ravana's
magician Maricha in disguise), abducted Sita, taking her back to Lanka in his
aerial chariot to be kept captive in his beautiful Ashoka garden.
Rama
followed in hot pursuit but met several troublesome distractions along the way.
The first was the headless monster Kabandha. Killing the creature, its
departing soul proved more helpful and advised Rama that before confronting
Ravana, our hero should enlist the help of Sugriva, king of the monkeys.
Finding on their arrival at Sugriva's capital Kiskindha that the king had lost
his throne to his brother Balin, Rama helped restore Sugriva to power. A
grateful Sugriva gave Rama use of an army and enlisted the help of Hanuman, who
besides being an able general was the son of the wind and able to leap huge
distances and take any form he wished. It was he who magically transported Rama
and his force to Lanka, crossing the rock bridge built by the skilled general
Nala, son of Visvakarma, which became known as Rama's Bridge.
A
series of titanic battles between Rama's forces and the demons followed, but
eventually Ravana was slain, Lanka fell to Rama's army, and our hero was
reunited with his wife. Rama was not entirely convinced that his wife had
remained loyal to him during her abduction, but Sita determined to prove her
honour by a test of fire, indeed the divine fire of Agni, no less. Escaping the flames unscathed, Rama
realized he had misjudged Sita, and the couple headed back for Ayodhya where
Rama reclaimed his throne and began a golden era of government.
According
to the Uttara Kanda the story continues with Rama still
harbouring suspicions about his wife's virtue during her captivity with Ravana.
Rama thus exiles Sita to live with the sage Valmiki, and it is there that she
bears him twin sons, Kusa and Lava. Eventually the sons return to Ayodhya where
Rama recognizes his offspring and, in a fit of remorse, recalls the wronged
Sita. In the Ramayana everyone lives happily ever after at
this point, but in the Uttara Kanda the tale is not quite
finished. Still proclaiming her innocence, Sita now swears her virtue on the
earth itself which then promptly swallows her by opening beneath her feet.
Rama, now even more distraught, vows to follow his wife to heaven, but Time
appears to him in the guise of an ascetic and calls for him to remain and
fulfil his duty on earth. Nevertheless, Rama wades into the river Sarayu and
from there is welcomed into heaven by Brahma.
Worship
& Representation in Art
Rama
remains a figure of worship across India and
South-east Asia but especially in Oude and Bihar. He has, for example, a
magnificent temple at Ramesvaram, notable for its 17th century CE
columned corridor. In addition, the Ramanandis are the largest and perhaps
strictest Vaishnava monastic order. Rama is also considered by some Buddhists
to be an avatar of Buddha, and sculptures of the hero sometimes appears on the
exterior of Buddhist temples.
In
art Rama is always youthful and typically has green or blue skin, holds a bow
and arrows, and wears a yellow robe. He is most often seen with Sita, Laksmana,
and Hanuman – collectively known as Rama's family or Rama Parivara.
Episodes from the Ramayana are especially popular in Hindu sculpture, wall paintings, and art in general, most of all
forest scenes with Rama hunting the deer and the epic battle with Ravana.
Ravana’s Mechanical Flying
Peacock
Ravana’s forces of land, sea and air—c. 2009 relief mural at
the Sanmira Hotel, Unawatuna, Sri Lanka
In this essay, Justin Henry, a 2017-18 , discusses the
origins andplications of Ravana's flying machine, a popular figure in Sri
Lankan versions of the Ramayana epic. All photos are
courtesy of the author.
Last
February while traveling along Sri Lanka’s southern coast, not far outside of
Galle I revisited the museum at the former home of Martin Wickramasinghe
(1890-1976)—the poet and novelist whose enduringly popular works inspired by
his own rural village upbringing approximate him as something of the “Mark
Twain” of the island nation.
In
addition to offering a walkthrough of Wickramasinghe’s house and garden, the
museum bills itself as a showcase of “traditional Sri Lankan heritage,”
featuring everything from a carriage house displaying an assortment of horse
and ox-drawn buggies and ploughs, to a gallery explaining the various masks and
costumes used in Sinhala stage dramas, to an exhibition on the work of
archaeologist Gill Juleff, who reconstructed an ingenious method of harnessing
monsoon winds to superheat iron smelting kilns in the island’s southern
mountains (possibly the source of the steel used to manufacture the coveted
“Damascus swords” of the middle ages).
In
a case just beyond the museum’s entrance hulked a striking, life-sized, painted
wooden figure that I did not remember from my first visit over a decade ago—a
ten-headed statue of Ravana, the demon-king of the Ramayana. The epic in
brief—a story central to Hindu religious life for centuries—tells the saga of
Rama, a north Indian prince, and his bride, Sita. In exile from their kingdom,
Sita is captured by Ravana and held captive in Lanka, island fortress of the rakshasa
demons. Rama manufactures a stone bridge to Lanka with the assistance of his
monkey allies, slays Ravana, and rescues Sita before returning to Ayodhya to
reclaim the throne.
Sinhala palm-leaf manuscript of the “Tale of Ravana” (18th
century)
My
curiosity piqued, I inquired from our tour guide when, why and how it was that
this villain of Indian legend came to find a place in Martin Wickramasinghe’s
home. He explained that the museum had acquired the piece in 1983 from a
festival chariot used by a Hindu temple in Jaffna. “Ravana was a great king of
Sri Lanka 8000 years ago,” he went on earnestly. “And, you know, he had an
airplane powered by a mercury vortex engine. We had such technology in those
days.”
This
was not the last that I would hear of Ravana’s flying machine and its “mercury
vortex” propulsion during my four months as a CAORC fellow in Sri Lanka this
spring. Once I realized what the image was, the more I began to see Ravana atop
his dandu-monara (or “wooden peacock” in Sinhala) everywhere I looked.
For years a statue of airborne Ravana stood outside of the international
airport at Katunayake. Drawings of Ravana and his technological marvel appear
in Sinhala newspapers, on the covers of paperbacks found in bookshops
throughout the capital city of Colombo, and even now in textbooks designed for
secondary-school history courses. In the mountain town of Ella—today a major
tourist-hub, believed to have once been the lair of the demon-king—amidst the dandu-monara
billboards, Ravana themed hotels and cocktail menus, for $20 you can take a
spin on the “Flying Ravana” zipline. This April Sri Lanka sent its first
research satellite into low orbit around the earth, the “Ravana One.”
It
is true that Sri Lanka lays claim to an impressive heritage of engineering
marvels: the intricate, state-maintained irrigation system of the ancient
kingdom of Anuradhapura; the stupas (reliquaries) of the island’s major
Buddhist schools of the first millennium (with the Jetavana Aramaya standing
for centuries as the third tallest structure in the world, after the pyramids
of Khufu and Khafra at Giza); the 5th century plateau-top palace complex at
Sigiriya, “Lion Rock,” complete with elaborate bathing pools and fountains.
Ravana aboard his flying peacock (Devram Vihara,
Pannapitiya)
What
then do we make of Ravana’s flying peacock? Or, as the question is often put
bluntly to me when I describe my research, is it true, or is it a myth?
My
current book project explores the development of uniquely Sri Lankan versions
of the Ramayana story from the 14th century onwards, focusing on the
domestication of Ravana by both Tamil Hindus and Sinhala Buddhists, who often
make him out to be much more of a “good guy” than he is understood to be by
Indians. I attempt to account for the process by which Ravana was transformed
from a demon of Sanskrit lore to a historical, human king of Sri Lanka,
including his appearance in the 21st century as a cultural hero among some
Sinhala Buddhists, many of whom now trace their ancestry to Ravana’s “Yakkha”
(demon) tribe.
I
argue that the “Sinhala Ravana” phenomenon represents a fully articulated palingenetic
myth, or wholesale re-writing of a national origin story, forged within the
triumphal mood following the Sri Lankan government’s victory over the
separatist Libertation Tigers of Tamil Elam one decade ago, and enabled by the
speed of travel of ideas and images in our current digital age.
As it turns out, Ravana’s flying peacock represents a near perfect metonym for my overall thesis: that, while 21st century Ravana is popularly understood to be an indigenous king of the island (and even by some accounts the progenitor of Indic [or even world] civilization), his sui generis Sri Lankan representation is in fact the product of centuries of synthesis of regional literature and folklore, embellished in recent years by the global “alternative media” multiverse freely accessible through the internet.Aboard the Dandumonara,” Ellement Hiking Bar & Restaurant, Ella
In
the original Sanskrit version of the Ramayana, Ravana does indeed
possess an aerial vehicle with which he abducts Princess Sita, though we are
given no indication of the specifics of its mechanics, nor any suggestion that
it resembles a bird (or peacock) in design. Indeed, vimanas or “flying
castles” are a staple narrative convention in a variety of South Asian Hindu,
Buddhist and Jain texts dating back in some cases more than 2000 years.
There
is however in Sri Lanka a tradition of poetry and folklore—until recently
unconnected with Ravana—involving flying wooden peacocks, usually associated
with stories in which a carpenter’s son assists a prince in building a
mechanical bird, with the prince then using the contraption to travel to a
distant kingdom and seduce a princess.
Even
Martin Wickramasinghe himself wrote a short children’s book based on one such
traditional folk story, the Dandumonara Kathava. In these tales the
design of the peacock is given some visual contour: its wings flap to produce
lift, powered by the operator “peddling” (padinavā) from his cockpit
seat, with three ropes (attached to ailerons?) controlling direction and pitch.
While the Sinhala name for this device (the “wooden peacock,” dandu-monara)
is unique, the basic story motif and concept of the bird-machine is found
throughout India in various regional literature and oral traditions. The dandu-monara
appears to be in fact one token of a broader literary genre concerning
mechanical contrivances—including human and animal automata—found in such famed
Sanskrit texts as the Pañcatantra (an ancient collection of folktales)
and the Kathasaritsagara (“Ocean of the Streams of Stories”).
1921 cover illustration of U.D. Johannes Appuhami’s poem,
“The Story of the Wooden Peacock,” based on a traditional Sinhala folktale.
Scholars
have recently noted the coalescence in the 10th century of a pan-regional
interest in stories concerning “fountain houses” and “mechanical gardens”
complete with robotic fish, birds and other animals, apparently developing out
of literary exchange between the Fatamid, Byzantine, Abbasid, north and central
Indian empires of the time. This trade in “wonders and marvels” would have
involved translation between Latin, Greek, Arabic and Sanskrit. In India the
genre was related to a technical treatise by the poet-king Bhoja (fl. 1025),
the Samarangana Sutradhara, which includes a chapter on machines
blurring the lines between the magical and the technical in its descriptions of
elaborate plumming, automatically refilling oil lamps, motorized menageries,
robotic soldiers, and alchemically enabled combustion engines. The text
includes some specific instructions on the construction of flying machines:
laghudārumayam mahāvihaṅgaṃ dṛḍhasuśliṣṭatanuṃ
vidhāya tasya
udare rasayantramādadhīta jvalanādhāramadho’ sya cāti
pūrṇam
tāruḍha puruṣastasya pakṣadvandvoccālaprojjhitena
anilena
suptasvāntaḥ pāradasyāsya śaktyā citraṃ kurvannambare
yāti dūram
Having
built a great bird made of light wood, with a fine, tightly knit outer
covering, and placing within its belly a mercury mechanism (rasa-yantram)
functioning as a receptacle for a blazing fire,
Through
the power of that mercury (pāradasya śaktyā) and the force of the air
released from the wings [of the bird] flapping in unison, a man mounted atop it
may travel a great distance through the sky, painting pictures [amid the
clouds], his mind altogether serene.
–Bhoja’s
Samarangana Sutradhara, chapter 31, verses 95 and 96
No
one can deny that Bhoja offers here a fantastic—perhaps even technologically
prescient—scene, leaving us to imagine not only a Da Vinci-esque avian
simulacrum, but also fiery jet engines, and either an intricate form of
contrail sky-writing, or a more romantic (if less physically plausible) sport
of cloud-croche.
We
have no physical record of Bhoja’s wondrous inventions ever having been
actually constructed. He gives a few details concerning their hardware (copper
piping, elementary hydraulics) though no full schematics. While the “wooden
peacock” and other automata appear in a few medieval Sri Lankan Sinhala and
Pali works, the specific theme of the “mercury vortex engine” seems to have
come to the attention of modern Ravana enthusiasts through online versions of
Dileep Kanjilal’s short 1985 book, Vimana in Ancient India, also a locus
classicus in American “ancient aliens,” “alternative history,” and other
dubiously credentialed academic circles. (Kanjilal did himself read the Samarangana
Sutradhara, though his interpretation remains painfully positivist in its
outlook.)
What
then is my answer to the “truth or myth” question when it comes to Ravana’s
airplane? While the demon-king has come for many to embody a mono-ethnic
narrative concerning the original people of Sri Lanka, there is the potential
for Ravana—both as a non- (or pre-) ethnic literary character, and as a subject
of historical study—to function as a signifier of a shared heritage (Sinhala
and Tamil, Buddhist and Hindu) of the people of the island.
To
answer the “true or myth,” “real or fake” question in the binary fashion in
which it is posed is to capitulate to a form of literalism which distracts from
the more interesting possibility of treating Ravana as product of the
stratigraphy of regional and global literary influences that have shaped his
image in the 21st century. My answer therefore is to embrace the mystery of
Ravana—admitting, as is true, that I still do not understand him fully—while
inviting my interlocutor down with me into Ravana’s subterranean Lankan
kingdom, to see what other treasures and clues he may have left behind.
We all know the importance of Ramayana in India and almost everybody is
aware of the events which took place in Lanka between Ram and Ravan. The Lanka of Ramayana is present
Sri Lanka and you can find much evidence and proven proof in Sri Lanka where
Ramayana’s events occurred.There are more than 50 places in Sri Lanka which are
mentioned in Ramayana and related to its character. We are sharing 10 Ramayana
related places in Sri Lanka which are connected to the Ramayana with strong
folklore and proofs.
Amman Temple located in Seetha Eliya or Nuwara
Eliya, where Sita was held captive by Ravana,
according to legend Sita bathed in the river next to the temple. Footprints
of Lord
Hanuman can
be seen on the rock next to the river. Some footprints are said to be small
while others too big which tells us about the power Lord Hanuman had to transform himself into any
size.
2. Sita Kotuwa
Sita Kotuwa is one of the main places to visit
while having a Ramayana Tour in SriLanka, it was this place where Sita was held captive after kidnapping
by Ravana. The place is surrounded by a
waterfall and beautiful stream and the place was named ‘Sitha Kotuwa’ or ‘Sitha fort’ as Sita stayed here.
According to the legend, Lord Rama after winning war with Ravana started his journey back to
Ayodhya. But he killed Ravana and acquired Brahmana Hatya Dosham for killing a
Brahman. So Lord Rama at Munneswaram prayed to Lord Siva for a solution it was
then Lord Shiv advised him to install four Shivling to get rid of the Dosha. So
Lord Rama install Manavari, Thirukoneswaram, Thiruketheeswaram, and Rameshwaram
shivling and prayed them.
4. Ram Sethu
Mannar is an
island in the northwestern part of Sri Lanka and one can visit Adam’s Bridge or Rama Sethu in Talaimannar which is also
one of the essential parts of Ramayana. Ram Sethu is a legendary bridge built
by Rama with the help of his army to reach Lanka.
5. Pushpaka Vimana
King Ravana brings Sita Devi in a Pushpak Vimana which is widely known in Sri Lanka
as the “Dandu
Monara Yanthranaya,” or
Large Peacock Machine in Sinhala, This is also called Gavagala.
6. Sanjeevani Mountain Dolukanda
Dolukanda is another famous place in Sri
Lanka with a strong link to Ramayana. According to legend, Lord Hanuman was
asked by Rama to fetch herbs to save Lakshman who was wounded during the war,
and Hanuman unable to identify the herb and brought the whole Sanjeevani
Mountain. while flying the mountain fell on five places in Lanka named as
Dolukanda, Rumassala, Ritigala, Thalladi, and Kachchativu.
Suggested Read:
7. Hanuman Temple in Ramboda
Lord Hanuman is often called Anjaneyar by
Tamils, as his mother’s name is Anjan. On the hills of Ramboda Lord Hanuman is
built where Lord Hanuman is believed to have searched for Sita. The place is
also known for Ramboda Falls, there is also a lake nearby known as ‘Sita Tear Pond‘ it was said that Sita Devi tear fell
here.
5. Pushpaka Vimana
King Ravana brings Sita Devi in a Pushpak Vimana which is widely known in Sri Lanka
as the “Dandu
Monara Yanthranaya,” or
Large Peacock Machine in Sinhala, This is also called Gavagala.