Ravana

Rāvaṇa(/ˈrɑːvənə/) is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic Ramayana, where he is depicted as the king of Lanka. Rāvaṇa is depicted and described as having ten heads. He is described as a follower of Shiva, a great scholar, a capable ruler and a maestro of the veena, but someone who wished to overpower the devas. His ten heads represent his knowledge of the six shastras and the four Vedas. In the Ramayana, Rāvaṇa is the antagonist, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita to exact vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister Shurpanakha.

Etymology

The word Ravana (Sanskrit: रावन्) means roaring opposite of Vaiśravaṇa meaning "hear distinctly" (passive). Both Ravana and Vaiśravaṇa who is popularly known as Lord Kubera are considered to be patronymics derived as sons of Vishrava.

Iconography

Ravana is depicted and described as having ten heads. Sometimes he is depicted with only nine heads because he has sacrificed a head to convince Lord Shiva. He is described as a devout follower of the god Shiva, a great scholar, a capable ruler and a maestro of the Veena. Ravana is also depicted as the author of the Ravana Samhita, a book on Hindu astrology and book Arka Prakasham; book on Siddha medicine and treatment . Ravana possessed a thorough knowledge of Siddha,"The Oldest traditional treatment system" and political science. He is said to have possessed the nectar of immortality, which was stored inside his belly, thanks to a celestial boon by Brahma.

Ravan (disambiguation)

Ravan could refer to:

Characters

See also

The Ancestral Trail

The Ancestral Trail is a now out-of-print partwork magazine that was originally published by Marshall Cavendish in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, parts of Europe and New Zealand between 1992 and 1994. There was also a computer game compiled in both DOS and Amiga formats.

The Ancestral Trail was based on a manuscript initially written by Frank Graves, which split into two halves of 26 issues each. The first half, written by Frank Fergus Fleming, takes place in the Ancestral World and describes Richard's struggle to restore good to the world. The second part, written by Ian Probert, takes place within the Cyber Dimension. It deals with Richard's attempts to fight evil while also attempting to return home. Each issue centered on an adventure against a particular adversary, and each issue ended on a cliffhanger.

The Ancestral Trail was illustrated by Julek and Adam Heller. Computer-generated graphics were provided by Mehau Kulyk for issues #27 through #52.

Setting and characters