Who Is Ravana (Dashagriva)?
The ten-headed demon king
Ravana is the main villain of the Ramayana and the king of the rakshasas (demons). He rules the island of Lanka in the southern sea. He has ten heads and twenty arms, and through harsh austerities he gained a gift that kept gods and demons from defeating him, so even the gods feared him.
After Rama and Lakshmana wounded his sister Shurpanakha and the demon army of Janasthana was wiped out, Ravana decided to take Sita. He forced the demon Maricha, with threats, to turn into a golden deer and lure Rama and Lakshmana away from their hermitage. Then, disguised as a wandering ascetic, he approached Sita while she was alone, showed his true form, and carried her off in his flying chariot. When Jatayu, king of the birds, blocked his way, Ravana cut off his wings and took Sita to Lanka.
He is also called Dashagriva, which means "the ten-necked one." In some parts of India, people celebrate the festival of Dussehra (Dasara) by burning huge effigies of Ravana to mark the victory of good over evil.
Episodes featuring this character3
NEWEpisode 1
The Boy Whose Arrow Was Too StrongRamayana: Bala Kanda (The Book of Youth)
A poet's grief over a slain bird becomes a song, and that song becomes the story of a prince. In Episode 1, young Rama leaves his father's side to travel with a stern sage, and learns for the first time how great his own power is, and how frightening.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
One Rejection. Fourteen Thousand Demons.Shurpanakha and Khara's Army (Aranya Kanda)
Rama vows to protect the sages of the forest. When he turns down a marriage proposal from the rakshasa princess Shurpanakha, an army of fourteen thousand rakshasas descends on him. Rama sends his wife and brother to safety in a cave and faces the horde alone.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 6
The Deer They Never Should Have ChasedThe Golden Deer and the Abduction of Sita
A golden deer far too beautiful to be real appears outside the forest hut, but it's a trap set by Ravana, the ten-headed demon king. One by one, love and kindness open the doors, and Sita is carried off into the sky. Only the aged bird king Jatayu rises alone to stop him.
19 pages