Ravana, evil King of Lanka in Ramayana – Little known facts

Ravana – A relook at the legendary King of Lanka

How well do you know the Asura-king of Lanka – Ravana? How well do we know this vilified-demon king whose effigy is burnt every year with much fanfare during the Ram-Lila celebrations across northern India?
Here are 9 things that you may not know about him – if you do, here’s a crisp salute for you from the team at Beyonder…

1. Ravana was named Dashagriva or Dashanana (demon with 10 heads) at birth. He came to be called Ravana (one who has a terrifying roar) during a fight with Lord Shiva in the course of which his arms were crushed by Lord Shiva. The earth is said to have quaked at his cry of pain when Mount Kailash was pinned on him
2. Ravana’s father was a famous sage (Rishi Vishwashrava). His mother was the Sage’s 2nd wife, Kaikasi. He was hence, a half-Brahmin and half-Asura
3. Kubera, the God of wealth was his half-brother (son of Rishi Vishwashrava and his 1st wife Varavarnini). Ravana drove out Kubera from Lanka and occupied the throne
4. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and an expert on the Vedas and Astrology. He was also an accomplished musician who played his own invented instrument – the Rudra Veena – which Lord Shiva was particularly fond of. He also composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram.
5. Ravana performed the pujas as a Brahmin when Lord Rama had to inaugurate the Rama Sethu. The bridge was intended to bring Rama’s army to battle Ravana in Lanka 
6. Ravana was an acclaimed practitioner of statecraft. So much so that, after defeating him, Lord Rama ordered his brother Lakshmana to learn the art of statecraft and diplomacy from the dying Asura King.
7. Ravana had a boon from Lord Brahma by which his life was concentrated at his navel. This knowledge was shared with Lord Rama by Ravana’s brother Vibhishana. This was critical in Lord Rama managing to kill Ravana. In fact, Vibhishana is quite unpopular as a traitor in Lanka even today.
8. Ravana owned the first recorded flying machine the Pushpaka Vimana – this was not developed by him, but captured from Kubera. In fact, he is believed to have had his palace on an inaccessible mountain where he used to go using his aeroplane
9. Ravana’s empire was not restricted to SriLanka alone. It was spread over Balidweepa (today’s Bali), Malayadweep (Malaysia), and six more islands.

If you want to know more about this man and his land, head out to Sri Lanka where even now there is a lot of legend associated with Ravana. Many of the places supposedly related to the Ramayana are also still preserved – Ravana’s legendary palace on a rock (Sigiriya), his network of caves in Ravana-Ella, the Ashok Vatika where Sita Devi was apparently held captive, the temple where Sita Devi prayed at Sita-Ella, the place where the war happened, the temple where Ravana prayed to Lord Shiva etc…

Click here to read more details on the Ramayana Trail in Sri Lanka.

If you wish to travel to Sri Lanka to see some of these, Beyonder Experiences has distilled many of these into a Ramayana Trail experience in Sri Lanka…

For more ideas on experiential travel and tour ideas, check out Beyonder Travel.