Ravana

**Rāvaṇa** was an asura (titan or monster) king of the floating city of Lanka, according to Hindu mythology. He is the main antagonist of the Ramayana epic.

He was a devout worshipper of the god of time, Shiva.

## History

Long ago, Ravana was born to the sage Vishrava and the Rakshasa princess Kaikeshi at what is now the village of Bisrakh. When he was younger, he and his brothers Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana meditated at Mount Gokarna for eleven thousand years, and they were rewarded with a blessing from the creator god Brahma.

He usurped Lanka from his half-brother, Kubera, and became its king, before waging war with other great asura kings. At one time, he looted the city of Alaka, which happened to be near the sacred peak of Kailasa. While riding on a flying chariot looted from the city, it stopped as it almost passed over a beautiful place. After learning that it was the sanctuary of Shiva, he cursed at Shiva and attempted to uproot Mount Kailasa, but Shiva stamped the mountain, crushing Ravana under its root.

Agonised by the weight of the mountain, Ravana screamed. His ministers advised him to sing hymns as his apology to the mountain's lord, and after a thousand years of penance and nine heads being uprooted from his own body, Shiva pardoned him and lifted the mountain from his body. The god of the mountain also gave him great strength, a mighty sword, and a linga-pillar for him to honour his divine master.

However, as he grew powerful, he also became more arrogant and cruel: he sought to rule over all of creation. His downfall began when his sister Shurpanakha had her nose cut off after failing to attract the exiled prince Rama. In a fit of rage and out of jealousy against Rama's wife Sita, Ravana abducted Sita as a prisoner in his palace. However, he refused to violate or damage Sita's body, as he was cursed by his daughter-in-law that his head will shatter into pieces if he did so.

Rama and his brother Lakshmana led their army to fight Ravana and rescue Sita. Saddened by Ravana's rejection of his advice, his brother Vibhishana defected to Rama's army. After a prolonged battle, Rama found Ravana's weakness -- his belly -- and fired an arrow, killing him. In his place, Vibhishana was crowned as the next king of Lanka, and he tried to convince the surviving Lankans to repent from their evils.

## Appearance

Ravana is often depicted as a mighty man with ten heads and twenty arms -- either representing his literal form or the extent of his power.

## Personality

Like in his youth, Ravana was consumed by a desire to seek power, and power unending. Although he was intelligent and skilled in political science, medicine, and music, he was eventually consumed by his hunger for dominance over everything, becoming cruel and destructive.

## Relationships

He has several brothers -- Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna, Khara, and Dushana -- and one sister, Shurpanakha.

His wives are Mandodari, Dhanyamalini, and a third wife; and their sons are Meghanada (or Indrajit), Atikaya, Akshayakumara, Narantaka, Devantaka, Trishira, and Prahasta. Meghanada was the most powerful of his brothers, and Prahasta led Ravana's armies.

## Customs

Most Hindus revile him as a tyrant and a demon, so his defeat was celebrated every year at the festivals of Dasara (where statues of him were burned) and Diwali (where plays were performed and lamps were lit). However, in some parts of India and Sri Lanka, Ravana is instead honoured as an ancestor, a noble king, or the greatest devotee of Shiva.

The Gondi people of southern India venerate Ravana as their ancestor and one of their ancient kings. In addition, Ravana is also venerated as a hero to some members of the Tamil and Sinhala peoples.

## In the Rabydosverse

During the latter Sixteenth Age, a "Ravana" is a term for "a person who is so arrogant that he will recklessly destroy himself". This was especially used against the Terran invaders, but also against the Denlotia.

When the Thandizo Dynasty besieged the mountainous country of Porashon to exterminate its people, Emperor Thandizo frequently referred the plant-like Ontemazei as "monsters". Embracing the epithet, the Ontemazei began to make fun of their enemies calling them "monsters" by worshipping Ravana as the "king of the monsters". Ever since their victory over Emperor Thandizo's invasion, many Porasonids also converted to Sandharma (Hinduism), invoking the protection of new deities from the west such as Shiva, Kali, Kubera, and Jambavan.

Many Porasonids worship Ravana when they go to war against their enemies, seeking to channel his rage to overwhelm and destroy their foes. They also set up shrines and statues of him outside their laboratories, venerating him as their god of science. Nonetheless, they also use Ravana's tragic downfall as a warning not to succumb to arrogance or greed.

Porasonids usually depict Ravana with just one head and two arms, as they did to their gods and ancient heroic kings. He is often depicted with golden armour, red robes, a flaming halo, and raising a spear.

Other war gods worshipped by the Porasonids include Tuoroz (the god of commanders and weapons), Goruso (the god of generals and leaders), and Tarhunz (the bestower of divine favour and lord of heroes and mutants).

While most other Hindus burn effigies of Ravana on the festival of Dasara, Porasonids instead burn effigies of their enemies *in front of statues of Ravana* as offerings to him, as they pray for his protection over their country. Sometimes the effigies represent Mahishasura or they face north; either way, they represent the empires of the past that tried to exterminate the Porasonids for being descendants of the abominable Ontemazei.

His birthplace of Vishrakha, at Prisapura, is a pilgrimage site among many Porasonids. They also funded the construction of a large temple to Ravana and Shiva, and several universities around the temple, to honour his legacy as an author and an astronomer.

Two people are considered as the descendants of Ravana: the Gondi people of southern Prisapura, and the Buddhist Helavanni of the island of Tambavanni to the south of Prisapura and Mucchiri. To honour them, the Porasonids made Tambavanni a close ally, and all Gondi people are always welcome to Porashon. In fact, a variant of the Gondi language is used as a classical and ceremonial language in Porasonid academies to honour Ravana.

The Kalokei War against the Porasonids and their allies was known by the Porasonids as the Ravanalila War, because they believed that the Kalokei cruelty was a tragic repeat of Ravana's reign of terror. Likewise, in spite of Ravana's legacy as a talented writer and a great devotee to Shiva, his cruelty caused them to name various cruel, arrogant, and tyrannical acts as "ravanalila". The name was never to be used for any play about Ravana, but it is used to condemn various tyrannical and cruel acts, for those who did so were repeating Ravana's folly to their own, self-inflicted doom.

On the other hand, there was a play in ancient times known as the "Ravanalila", performed in such a daring attempt to elevate Ravana to a god. It was considered so cursed and blasphemous, that not even the worshippers of Ravana would ever perform that play. It became a byword for "the curse of arrogance", leading to its usage by the Porasonids as a warning of the tragic price of hubris.

And when they see their enemies face their doom, sometimes, the Porasonids invoke Sri Rama, his enemy. By calling upon His divine justice with the prayer, "Jaya Sri Rama", they are telling their enemies: "May the Gods have mercy on your pitiful souls - if you even deserve any at all. Your actions have cast yourselves far from Heaven."

### Changes in the Porasonid version

The Porasonids have their own version of the Ramayana, but it is centred on Ravana and his brother Vibhishana. That stage play, the *Râvana Atrozaroi* (Hubris of Ravana), is a tragedy that warns its audiences about the deadly price of arrogance and corruption.

* Asuras are also an intelligent race, supposedly blessed with the powers of the gods. However, they must control their own desires and their aggressions, otherwise they will devolve into beastly rakshasas, losing their sanity in exchange for brute strength and savage hunger.
* Kalanemi, one of Ravana's ministers, is one of two major antagonists, as he supposedly corrupted Ravana into becoming cruel. The Porasonid version also depicts his demise in the battle of Lanka. The other antagonist in that play is Ravana himself, as the story shifts towards Vibhishana as he tries to save his kingdom from being devoured and decimated by Ravana's cruelty.
* Ravana's descent into wickedness began after losing a war to the Nivatakavachas, underwater demons and sorcerers. He became more cruel to surpass them in strength and sorcery, envious of their might.

## In the Rinnarverse

In the Ramrajya of Bharat (India), the corrupt government before the civil war was known as Old India or the Ravanarajya. In India, "Ravanarajya" refers to a land thrown into chaos, like the ruin Ravana unleashed upon his subjects during his hubris.

One name the Trundukis used for the Soviet Union was "The Land of Ravana", referring to its military power and authoritarian society.

## See also

* Goruso
* Loki
* Ontemazei mythology
* Ivan York, another example of unkempt rage
* Odin, another king associated with monsters and fear, but instead also of courage