Ravana

Quick Facts

About Ravana

The ten-headed lord of Lanka, born to the sage Visrava by the rakshasa woman Pushpotkata and half-brother to Kuvera, whose city and flying car he took. He stood a thousand years on one leg and cut off his own heads into the sacred fire until Brahma granted him safety from gods, gandharvas, yakshas, nagas and every other creature, thinking men too small to name in the list. He overpowered the vulture Jatayu and carried Sita out of the forest by deceit, and Nalakuvera's old curse alone kept him from touching her until Rama came.

In Their Words

Let no god, gandharva, yaksha or naga be able to kill me. What is a man?

Ravana

Traits

• proud
• austere
• ruthless
• doomed

Story Appearances

• The Boons of Visrava's SonsThe heads offered to the fire❧ 17 min
• The Grove of Ashoka TreesThe captor who set watchers over her❧ 16 min
• The Sleeper WokenThe king who woke his brother❧ 16 min

Stories Featuring Ravana

12 further tales on this site name Ravana, in canonical reading order.

• The Arrow From Behind the TreeA wife who read the omens, and a king who would not listenVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Bird With the Burnt WingsA search that ended at a cliff, and the brother of JatayuVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Testimony of the ElementsWhat Rama said when she was brought back to himVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Bow at the FrontierParashurama Tests Rama of Ayodhya and Loses His EnergyVana Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Gods Ask for RamaAgni pleads before Brahma, and the answer is a king's son and an army of monkeys and bearsVana Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Friend of DasarathaA vulture fights Ravana in the sky, and a headless Rakshasa points the way to SugrivaVana Parva ‧ 14 min
• Nala's BridgeThe Ocean refuses to part and names a workman instead, and the monkey army walks to LankaVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Garuda's Map of the WorldThe four directions described from a bird's backUdyoga Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Banners and the BowsSanjaya names every standard on the fieldDrona Parva ‧ 18 min
• Duryodhana Rises from the LakeTaunted in the water, the last Kaurava comes up armed and asks for one man at a timeShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Wife Who Cooled a Naga's AngerPadmanabha would not go out to a waiting guest, until his wife named the ends of Ravana and KartaviryaShanti Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Gatekeepers Who Became DemonsThe Curse of the Kumaras and the Three BirthsShanti Parva ‧ 9 min

Character Arc

1. 1The Boon He ChoseA thousand years of penance spent on the wrong enemy
2. 2The Theft in the ForestJatayu broken, and Sita carried into the sky
3. 3The Sleeper WokenKumbhakarna roused when the war turned against him

Key Relationships

• Son➝Visrava
• Brother➝Kumbhakarna
• Brother➝Vibhishana
• Enemy➝Rama

Places in Ravana's Story

Drawn from the stories Ravana appears in.

• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Dwarakaद्वारका
• The Oceanसमुद्र
• Badarikashramaबदरिकाश्रम
• Mount Kailasaकैलास
• Himavatहिमवत्
• Vaitaraniवैतरणी
• Mount Mandaraमन्दर पर्वत
• Kamyaka Forestकाम्यक वन
• Lankaलङ्का

Related Characters

Others counted among the Sages & Others.

• ✦Sage Kanva
• ◎Eklavya
• ★Shukracharya
• ♛Vrishaparva
• ♛Yadu
• ✧Princess Amba