Figure in the Hindu festival stories
Ravana
The ten-headed king of Lanka
Also known as Dashanana, Dashagriva.
In short
Ravana is the ten-headed rakshasa king of Lanka and the chief antagonist of the Ramayana, the epic attributed to Valmiki. A learned brahmin, powerful ascetic and ardent devotee of Shiva, he wins near-invincibility through divine boons, but his pride and his abduction of Sita bring about his destruction at the hands of Rama, an event celebrated at Dussehra.
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Ravana’s story and role
Ravana is the son of the sage Vishrava and the rakshasi Kaikasi, and a grandson of the sage Pulastya, which makes him half-brahmin. The Valmiki Ramayana portrays him as far more than a simple villain: he is immensely learned in the Vedas, a master of the veena, a great devotee of Shiva and a formidable ascetic. Through long penance he wins from Brahma a boon of near-invulnerability against gods, demons and other celestial beings. In his contempt he does not trouble to ask for protection from mere humans.
That omission is his undoing, for Vishnu incarnates as the human prince Rama precisely to end him. When Rama, Lakshmana and Sita are living in exile, Ravana's sister Shurpanakha is humiliated and turns to him for vengeance. Ravana abducts Sita and holds her in the Ashoka grove of Lanka, yet, bound by an earlier curse and by her steadfast refusal, he never forces her. His virtuous brother Vibhishana and others urge him to return her, but his pride refuses and war becomes inevitable.
Allied with the vanara army and with Vibhishana, who defects to his side, Rama wages the great war at Lanka and finally slays Ravana. His death is commemorated on Vijayadashami, or Dussehra, when towering effigies of Ravana are burned to mark the victory of good over evil; Diwali, some twenty days later, celebrates Rama's return to Ayodhya after that victory. In tradition Ravana is thus both the emblem of ego and adharma and, paradoxically, a figure respected for his scholarship and devotion.
What Ravana represents
Ravana symbolises unchecked ego, arrogance and desire (kama): great gifts, power and learning corrupted by pride. The burning of his effigy at Dussehra stands for the destruction of evil in the world and of the ego within oneself.
Festivals with Ravana
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About Ravana
Why is Ravana shown with ten heads?
His epithet Dashanana means ten-faced. Tradition interprets the heads in several ways, commonly as his mastery of the four Vedas and six shastras, or as the ten base qualities such as lust, anger and pride that a person must conquer. The Ramayana treats them as a mark of his immense power and intellect.
If Ravana was granted invincibility, how could Rama kill him?
Ravana's boon from Brahma protected him from gods, demons and celestial beings, but in his arrogance he did not seek protection from humans, whom he despised. Vishnu therefore incarnated as the mortal prince Rama expressly to bring about his downfall.
Which festival marks Ravana's death?
Ravana's defeat is celebrated on Vijayadashami, popularly called Dussehra, when large effigies of him are set alight. Diwali, which follows about twenty days later, marks Rama's return home to Ayodhya after that victory.
Was Ravana entirely evil?
Not in the classical portrayal. Valmiki's Ravana is a learned brahmin, a gifted musician and a devoted worshipper of Shiva, and some regions remember these qualities with a degree of respect. His tragedy is that ego and desire led such greatness into adharma.
Did Ravana harm Sita during her captivity?
No. Although he held Sita prisoner in the Ashoka grove and pressed her to accept him, he did not force himself upon her. Tradition explains this by an earlier curse that would have destroyed him had he taken a woman against her will, and by Sita's unbroken resistance.
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