Ravana is the main antagonist of the Hindu Epic, the Ramayana. He was the Rakshasa King of Lanka, and is infamous for kidnapping Sita, the wife of Rama, the Ikshvaku prince of Kosala, and the protagonist of the Ramayana. A powerful king of demons who is often depicted as having 10 or more heads, he is famous for kidnapping the wife of Rama, Sita. Although he is seen primarily as the antagonist of the story, he has had some followers and devotees in the Hindu faith who see him as a more morally flexible being than his more commonly seen evil incarnation.
Biography[]
The king of Rakshasas, Sumali and his two brothers once settled in the island of Lanka and lived peacefully. However, the demigods of heaven became paranoid about the power of the brothers and sought to vanquish them. Sumali and his brothers learnt of this conspiracy and invaded the heavens. However, the last minute intervention of Lord Vishnu turned the tide of the battle and the Rakshasas lost the battle. The brothers had to forfeit Lanka. The defeat made Sumali bitter, so he married his daughter Kaikasi to the Sage Vishrava in order to obtain powerful grandchildren. Kaikasi gave birth to four children: Dashagriva (later known as Ravana), Kumbhakarna, Meenakshi (famous as Shurpanakha), and Vibhishana.
The man who would become famous as Ravana was said to have been born with ten heads and twenty arms. Dashagriva studied the Vedas and other scriptures under his father's tutelage. When he came of age, Dashagriva and his brothers went to the Himalayas. They lived on the mountains for ten thousand years, practicing austerities. Every thousand years, Dashagriva sacrificed one of his heads to appease the Supreme Creator, Lord Brahma. Just when Dashagriva was about to sacrifice the tenth and final head, Lord Brahma appeared before him and agreed to bless him with a boon. Dashagriva requested for immortality, but Lord Brahma denied it, explaining that anything born must die one day. So Dashagriva requested a boon of invincibility, where he could not be killed by any creature accept humans and animals, because he believed that they were too weak to pose a threat. He also requested a boon to assume any form he desired. Brahma granted these boons and presented Dashagriva with a splendid chariot and celestial weapons. Conversely, the youngest brother Vibhishana received immortality from Brahma when he requested for a boon of steadfast righteousness.
Dashagriva assumed rulership over the Rakshasas and embarked on many campaigns to subjugate the three worlds (Heaven, Earth, and the Netherworld). He threatened his elder half-brother, Kubera to abdicate the throne of Lanka and claimed it as his own. One day, Dashagriva traversed the Himalayas when his path was obstructed by the mountain Kailasha, the abode of the God of Destruction, Lord Shiva. In his hubris, Dashagriva attempted to uproot the mountain. However, Lord Shiva pressed the mountain with his toe, crushing Dashagriva under the burden. For a thousand years, the Rakshasa screamed in agony. It is believed that he composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram extempore and sang the praises of Lord Shiva for a thousand years. He stripped the nerves of his arms, amputated one of his twenty arms and decapitated one of his heads to fashion a veena (stringed instrument), and played music. At the end of thousand years, Lord Shiva freed Dashagriva from his punishment and healed his injuries. Since Dashagriva's roars of agony strongly resonated the three worlds, Shiva bestowed him the name, "Ravana". Shiva gave Ravana the Pashupatastra weapon as well as a sword named Chandrahasa. Since then, Ravana became a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva.
Ravana conquered all the mightiest kings on Earth, vanquished many demigods, and fought against many dynasties of the Asuras. It is said that when Ravana ruled over Lanka, even the poorest subjects ate from golden vessels. He studied the art of politics from the renowned sage Shukracharya. He married Mandodari, the daughter of an Asura and had many sons. His eldest son was named Meghanada, because when he was born, the infant roared like thunderclouds. Meghanada became an accomplished warrior versed in arcane weapons, and vanquished Indra, the king of demigods. Hence, Meghanada became famous as Indrajit.
One day, Ravana's sister, Shurpanakha saw Rama, the exiled prince of Kosala. Upon seeing his handsome form, Shurpanakha became attracted to Rama and approached him out of desire. Rama politely turned down Shurpanakha, citing that he was faithful to his wife, Sita. In a fit of murderous envy, Shurpanakha charged towards Sita, but Rama's younger brother, Lakshmana sliced off Shurpanakha's nose and drove her away. To avenge her humiliation, Shurpanakha returned with Khara, Dushana, and 14,000 troops, however Rama massacred the entire enemy in fifteen minutes. After learning of this incident, Ravana decided to kidnap Sita. Ravana had a Rakshasa named Maricha to transform into a golden deer and used him as a decoy to lure away Rama and Lakshmana. Ravana disguised himself as an ascetic and approached Sita. He kidnapped Sita by force and returned to Lanka.
Rama was anguished upon discovering that Sita had been kidnapped. Months later, he formed an alliance with Sugriva, the Vanara (ape-monkey) king of Kishkindha. Sugriva's minister, Hanuman was able to locate Sita in Lanka and killed many Rakshasas. Hanuman requested Ravana to return Sita to Rama, but the Rakshasa king refused and set his tail on fire. In retaliation, Hanuman burns down Ravana's city. The Vanaras build a bridge across the sea and march into Lanka. When Ravana refuses conciliation from Rama, war breaks out for many days. Ravana arrives to confront Rama, but is swiftly defeated. After all his prominent warriors are slain in battle, Ravana arrives once again to fight a decisive final battle with Rama. The two opponents mount their chariots, string their bows, and fight a duel, invoking celestial missiles and countering one other's arrows mid flight. Rama gains the upper hand, but is baffled that no matter how many times he beheads Ravana, the latter's head grows back. Eventually, Rama invokes the Brahmastra and aims at Ravana's navel, which contains the elixir of immortality. Rama shoots the arrow and the weapon evaporates the elixir, rendering Ravana mortal and killing him.
AIn the story of the Ramayana, he kidnapped Sita, wife of Rama, and shut her away in a tower at his demonic palace so he can take her as his wife. Fortunately, Rama came to Sita's rescue and, in a fierce battle, killed Ravana with a poisoned dart at his weakest spot, his belly.
Ravana is by far one of the most well-known and popular villains in all of Hindu mythology and has gained a great many outings in media outside his native mythology, often keeping as an antagonist.
Ravana is also seen as an incarnation of the demon Kali and as such one of many avatars that the great spirit of evil spreads its influence, this is mirrored in the Ayyavazhi mythology where Ravana is seen as an avatar of Kroni, who is the supreme spirit of evil within that setting.
In Other Media[]
Raavana appears in the 1992 Japanese fantasy epic film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama taking the role of his mythological counterpart. He abducts Sita, kills Jataiyu, and battles Hanuman and Rama in the climax, eventually meeting his end. He is voiced in the Hindi version by Amrish Puri, by Uday Mathan in the original English version and by the late Tom Wyner in the Prince of Light cut of the movie.
In 2010, Kollywood filmmaker Mani Ratnam releases his action-adventure film Raavanan, named after Raavana,. The main antagonist Veeraiya is a loose inspiration.
Referred to as Lankesh, Raavana appears in the 2023 Bollywood period fantasy epic film Adipurush, played by Saif Ali Khan. The film takes inspiration from the 1992 Japanese film. This version is depicted as a shapeshifting and size altering humanoid with a giant bat as a mount, along with an army of ogres, trolls, and bats to follow him. He abducts Janaki to force her into marriage after she displeases Shurpanakha. Despite fighting Raghava on the field he doesn't last in his ultimate form as he's pierced by the brahmastra.
Ravana is also the main antagonist from Sita Sings the Blues.
Ravana is also the name of the Primal summoned by the Gnath tribe in the Final Fantasy XIV expansion Heavensward, depicted there as a four-armed swordmaster with a love for battle and slaughter.
