Ramanisblog

Tag: Ravana

  • How Sita Was Moved In Sri Lanka Ramayana Sites

    We are aware that Sita was abducted by Ravana to Sri Lanka bt the Pushpaka Vimana, a Flying Saucer like Flying Chariot.

    Sites of Ramayana in Lanka
    Ramayana Sites in Lanka from Stephen Knapp

    Read my post on the technology used in the Pushpak Vimana.

    What route did Ravana take while kidnapping Sita and how did he move her in Lanka?

    As far as I could check information as to how Sita was abducted is limited Ravana taking her in Pushpak Vimana and later fighting with Jatayu  and reaches Lanka, in Valmiki Ramayana.( Corrections to this  welcome with slokas).

    Ravana impriosed Sita in Asokavana.
    Ashoka Vatika, Asoka Van where Sita was imprisoned.

    But Buddhist Legends of Lanka give a detailed description about how Sita was moved in Lanka.

    “this vehicle landed at Werangatota, about 10 km from Mahiyangana, east of the hill station of Nuwara Eliya, in central Sri Lanka. Sita was then taken to Goorulupota, now known as Sitakotuwa, where Ravana’s wife, Mandodari, lived. Seetakotuwa is about 10 km from Mahiyangana on the road to Kandy. Sita was housed in a cave at Sita Eliya, on the Colombo-Nuwara Eliya road. There is a temple for her there. She is believed to have bathed in the mountain stream flowing beside the temple.

    North of Nuwara Eliya, in Matale district, is Yudhaganapitiya, where the Rama-Ravana battle took place. According to a Sinhalese legend, Dunuwila is the place from where Rama shot the ‘Bramshira’ arrow that killed Ravana. The Sri Lankan king was chalking out his battle plans in a place called Lakgala when the killer arrow struck him. Lakgala is a rock from the top of which Ravana could see north Sri Lanka clearly. It served as a watchtower following the expectation that Rama would invade the island to rescue his consort. Ravana’s body was placed on the rock at Yahangala for his subjects to pay their last respects. Since Ravana was a Brahmin, it was considered a sin to kill him, even in battle. To wash off the sin, Rama performed puja at the Munneswaram temple in Chilaw, 80 km north of Colombo. At Manaweri, north of Chilaw, there is a temple gifted by Rama.

    According to another legend from the southern part of Sri Lanka, Sita was actually detained in the mountainous forest area of Rumassala near Galle. When she fell ill, Hanuman wanted to bring some medicinal plants from the Dronagiri mountain in the Himalayan chain to cure her. Since he could not find the plants, he brought the whole mountain and dropped it at Unawatuna, which is near the present Galle harbour. Unawatuna means ‘here it fell’. Indeed, the area is known for its medicinal plants.

    At Ramboda, in the central highlands, known for its massive waterfalls, a temple for Hanuman has now sprung up as the belief is that he had visited Sita who was incarcerated there. Legend has it that the Koneswaram temple, in the eastern district of Trincomalee, was gifted by Lord Shiva to Ravana, as he was an ardent devotee. In the famous Buddha Vihara at Kelani, near Colombo, there is a representation of Rama handing over captured Sri Lanka to Ravana’s brother, Vibheeshana, who sided with him in his conflict with Ravana._Dandu Monara Yanthraya.

    ”

    Ravana using a golden deer as a decoy visited Sita when she was alone in the guise of an old sage, abducted and brought her to Weragantota in Lanka in his plane, the Pushpaka Vimana.

    Weragantota means the Place of Aircraft landing in Sinhala. This is the first place Sita Devi was brought to Lankapura (capita city of king Rāvana).
    Sita Devi was kept at queen Mandothari’s palace at Lankapura. The place Sita was held captive is called Sita Kotuwa (also known as Seetha Kotuwa); which means Sita’s Fort in Sinhala. It is believed Rāvana had an aircraft repair centre atGurulupotha close to Sita Kotuwa. Gurulupotha means Parts of Birds in Sinhala.

    Ravana moved Sita from Sita Kotuwa to Ashok Vatika the salubrious garden in the mountains. The route too was said to be spectacularly beautiful, as Ravana wanted to show Sita the beauty of his kingdom.
    The Chariot Path atop the mountain range is still visible. The Sita Tear Pond close to the Chariot Path is believed to have been formed by Sita Devi’s tears. Visitors could also see the famed Sita Flowers which are endemic to this area.

    Source:

    http://www.stephen-knapp.com/lord_rama_fact_or_fiction.htm

     

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  • Sita was Not Abducted By Ravana Koorma Purana

    I have been reading the Eighteen Puranas in detail for the past couple of days.

    La tristesse de Sîtâ (Preah Khan, Angkor)
    La tristesse de Sîtâ (Preah Khan, Angkor) (Photo credit: dalbera)

    Though I knew there are some differences between the Puranas, I never did realize that there could be something fundamentally contradictory between their narrative details of the Ithihasa, especially the Ramayana!

    Let me highlight afew of them.

    Ravana Did Not Kidnap Sita to Lanka.

    Though many of us are aware that there are various versions of The Ramayana,we assume that would be very minor,

    For instance, some Ramayans state that Sita was not physically abducted directly by Ravana,”

    a)The ground on which she stood was lifted by Ravana and he took of.

    b)Ravana lifted Sita by her hair.

    c)Sita was lifted by Ravana holding her by her hips.

    But Valimiki states that Sita was abducted.

    ‘

    “In Aaraya kandam, Sarkam 49, page 151,
    Sri C.R. Srinivasa Iyengar translates that
    Ravana lifts Sita by his right hand by touching her thighs.
    It shows Sita’s willingness
    The point is that Ravana’s head will burst and his body will be burnt
    if he touches a unwilling woman
    It was a curse on Ravana”(http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110323111752AAa7ajG)
     
    But leaving these points apart, there has been a aview that Ravana did not abuct the Real Sita at all!
     
     
    I used to brush it aside.
     
    But I found a refernce to this in The Koorma Puarana.
     
    It states that Sita knew it was Ravana who had come in the form of a Sanyasi and hence she ,with the blessings of Agni,had a Maya Sita created and it was this Sita Ravana abducted and when when the Maya Sita enetred into the Fire after the killing of Ravana by Lord Rama, the Real Sita emerged and the Maya Sita dispeeared in the fire.
     
    This is explained while extolling the Virtuous that those who are vituous will come to no harm.
     
    The same is stated in The Brahma Vaivastha Purana.
     
    Though the Puranas are old and are also authentic I still belive the Valimki version because the additional details provided in The Ramayana by Valmiki on Lord Ram‘s Birth,Death, His
     
    Date of Birth are found to be true9Please read my posts on these).
     
    Probably these are interpolations in the Puranas to insist on the Glories of Virtues.
     
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  • From Where Did The Brahmins Come?

    One of the most controversial topics is whether the Aryans invaded India and later settled here and if so from where did they come from?

    I have already posted a blog .The Myth called Aryan Invasion’

    The scientific research proves that there is no Aryan Invasion at all.

    I will be adding some more points to disprove this Myth and before that there are some questions to be answered ,the questions arising out of Ramayana.

    Rama and the others ; hailing from the Northerner part of India and if the Ramayana is a fact,which it is( I have posts on this under Hinduism),Lord Rama and others should have been fair-skinned,

    But the description of Rama is Blue Black.

    This is based on the conception of Lord Vishnu as Black in color.while Lakshmi is Golden (Hiranya varnaam(Sri Suktham), Lord Shiva of Reddish Hue,Parvati of greenish hue, as per the Purana.

    But based on geographical origin and the present people living in North India Rama should have been fair-skinned.

    We have two options.

    1.Ramayana was a fiction.

    This is incorrect as the Astronomical data provided in the Ramayana and other Purana stand the test of Science.

    Ramayana is a fact.

    So we are left with the other option that there have been other skinned people in India before Ramayana and there has been an a mix of various groups having different racial characteristics.

    Lord Rama could have been an exception as far as color is concerned.

    Others in the Ramayana were not of the same hue as Rama.

    Sita was fair-skinned.

    Against this Ravana was not described as dark-skinned and he is the brother of Kubera who is fair-skinned and Ravana is a Brahmin though he is described as a Dravidian!

    Therefore logic forces one to conclude that there were more races in India than one homogeneous Race in India which included Sri Lanka.

    Again if one refers to any of the Eighteen Purana, one would find descriptions of people both black and fair-skinned.

    And not all Brahmins were fair-skinned.

    For example, Aurava and you can find Brahmins of Dark hue in South India.

    The Indian Society expanded outwards, not from outwards.

    This is why one finds remnants of Hindu Thoughts in all the continents more specifically Egypt, central America , Australia and the Middle East.

    The early Indian Society was based on disposition, Varna, Brahmanas, Kshatriya , Vaishya and Sudras.

    Therefore the Brahmins did not come from any where to India and were a part of India Society.

    There is a school of thought which establishes that the Dravidian were living South of the Vindhya range and later they mixed with the people from the South.

    Sage Viswamitra banished his sons to the South and they intermingled with the Dravidians.

    Sage Apasthamba came from this mixed race and he composed the Apasthamba Sutra of the Vedas and it is being followed by the Brahmins of South India even today.

    Some more objections to Aryan Invasion of India.

    “

    1) If the ‘light skinned and mostly blonde haired and blue eyed’ Aryans had really invaded India and settled here thereafter, then why are such people with pure Caucasian features rarely found in India now? If it is because of centuries of racial intermixing, then how come one can still find some quite dark skinned people in India but not central Asian/ European type ‘white’ skinned people in India? Even the light brown skinned people found in the far north of India in places like Kashmir aren’t as fair as the ‘Aryans’ are considered to be.

    2) The Aryans divided themselves into 3 classes. The fourth class was the lowly ‘Shudra’ class, explained by the European historians as the Aryan conquered Dravidians’ class. By this logic, all the high castes, esp. the Brahmins had to be white/ light brown skinned and the people belonging to the ‘Shudra’ class had to be dark brown skinned. And yet, many dark skinned Brahmins and light skinned ‘Shudras‘ can easily be found in India – both in north as well as south. And upon that, inter-caste marriages, esp. high and low caste ones, are still uncommon in almost all parts of India. Another point regarding castes is that – Valmiki, the writer of the great Indian epic ‘Ramayana’, was born a Shudra, but ultimately, by attaining the Brahminical aspect of knowledge earning, spiritual understanding and noble mannerisms, became a Brahmin. ‘Ramayana’ is the story (does not matter if it was factual or myth) of a Kshtriya (Aryan) prince of North India – Lord Rama, who at the climax of the story defeats and kills the demonic king of Sri Lanka (south of India) – Ravana. Now, even though Ravana was a Brahmin (Aryan) by caste, he is considered, in the Indian spiritual folklore, as an UnArya or a non-Aryan, on account of his demonic deeds. This all suggests that caste system, originally, was not rigid, and that, ‘Aryan’ was an open, attainable socio-spiritual status.

    3) How come almost all the light brown skinned people in India (considered to be the descedants of the original Aryans) belong to the cold climate locations of India like Kashmir and Himachal and the dark brown skinned (considered to be the Dravidians themselves) belong to the warm climate locations? This suggests that skin colour in India has more do do with the climate and atmosphere of a particular region in India.

    4) If the Aryans were outsiders in India, then why do their spiritual-cultural-social compilation ‘The Vedas’ do not mention any outside cities, rivers and mountains? Why do they only mention the places that are found in India, as their sacred most? Why not some place in Caucasus or Iran? Why don’t the Vedas, which contain references to many battles, contain no reference to an ‘invasion’ of the land of Indus-Saraswati (India)? How come the modern descendants of Aryans in India have no recollection of their foreign origins? How come the descendants of Shudras (so called Dasas or Dasyus or Dravidians or indigenous race of India) have no recollection of an Aryan invasion of their land and their subsequent subjugation because of a defeat at the hands of the Aryans?

    5) If the Dravidians’ Indus valley civilization met its end at the hands of the invading Aryans, then how come no horse remains, broken chariots and burned buildings were discovered in and around the valley.

    Source:

    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_aryans_get_to_India

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  • Ravana’s Grand Father Pulasthya Statue Found.

    Sage Pulastyas Statue,
    The place where the statue is found was known as
    Pulastipura in olden times.
    This information can be found in the official Ramayana site of Srilanka.
    In contrast, there is no official effort by India
    to chronicle the historic sites connected with Ramayana in India. Source: wiki

    I blogged on the fact that Ravana was real and he existed.

    I had provided facts to support my statement.

    Now it transpires that the Statue of  Sage Pulasthya, Grandfather of Ravana seems to have been found in SriLanka.

    Story:

     

    The Srilankan site says that
    “The Central Government of India appointed a committee of 14 historians
    to identify the authenticity of Ramayana
    but was unable to find any historical or archaeological evidence in India.
    However, Sri Lanka can prove the validity of Ramayana
    with available archaeological and historical evidences.”
    That puts in perspective the kind of apathy of the Indian Government
    in matters related to Hinduism,
    inspite of the voluminous literature and traditions
    related to the places trailed by Rama.
    Both Rama and Krishna had walked
    throughout the length and breadth of India
    thereby creating an everlasting memory to the people of various parts of India.
    That memory continues to live even today.
    In this context, it is a welcome development
    that experts from various branches of science have come together
    to unravel the past prior to 2000 BC. (Read previous post).

    In this post I wish to say something I know of sage Pulastya.
    Pualstya’s name appears in different places.
    There are astrological Siddhanthas attributed to Pulaha in some texts and Pulastya in some.
    As astrological-  astronomical Sidhantha called Paulisa siddhantha
    was authored Pulasthya,
    which was compiled as one of 5 siddhanthas of
    “Pancha Siddhanthika” of Varahamihira.
    The authorship of this is attributed to sage Pulaha by some
    and to Pulasthya by others making us think
    that both are one and the same.
    But  Pulasthya and Pulaha are mentioned

    as separate entities in Mahabharatha.
    Source:
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  • Ramayana.Ravana Real, Existed Study

    I have been posting on the historicity of Lord Rama and am planning to write on the Birth date od Lord Krishna.

    While I was ‘Story telling’ my grand son, 4, he asked me whether Ravana was real or a story.

    That struck me.

    Ramayana, scenes from the Hindu Epic.,
    Scenes from The Ramayana

    I have been going after facts on Lord Rama, the route taken by Him, His Birth Date and never for a moment it struck me to go after Ravana.

    If Lord Rama is real, so should Ravana Be, as the whole Ramayana minus Ravana is Zero!

    I did some checks  and this Post.

    A Study by Tharaka Devinda Gunasekera, a Sri Lankan( what better source could there be!) attempts to prove Ravana was real.

    The author has sifted Facts from Myths and has done a good interpretation.

    His proof consists of Three  facts.

    1.The Runways built by Ravana are still intact.

    2. Ravana’s Pushpaka Vimana,Fore runner of modern Airplane.

    .3.The Sunken city of Ravana.

    4.The place where Sita was incarcerated.

    The Airstrips ,Runways of Ravana.

    “The first clue that comes to us is from three places still intact. Those are Maha-eliya
    (Known today as Horton’s plains named after the person who shot down all the deer in the
    park, to the last one), Ussangoda in Hambanthota and “Wariyapola”.

    . What do these places 7
    have in common? For starters, all these places are flat lands with wide open areas, ideal for
    landing an airborne craft.
    The place name “Wariyapola” breaks down in to “Air-Ship-Port” (Waa=air). Couple
    together this, with the fact that almost all the place names in this country has a history that
    made them, we have our first clue, the runway lines of the king’s airplane, or was it fleet?

    The palce where Rvana had his Airstrips. Ussanagoda
    Ussangoda, Sri Lanka

    Ussangoda also seems a good spot for landing an aircraft. But the land is somewhat tilted
    in some areas. The best craft to land there would be a helicopter. But we also know that it is
    possible to land airplanes in a short distance, which is done in a fighter carrier. There are
    certain models that can land vertically too. Thus, the uneven ground may not be a problem. It
    might have been completely flat by the time of Ravana, so the problems might not have been
    there at all. The fact that, the Ussangoda rock has no high rising trees is intriguing. The soil
    there does not support high growing trees, not even coconuts that grow normally in that area
    are there on the rock formation.

    2.The Plane,Pushpaka Vimana.

    Findings from a pyramid in Egypt revealed four airplane structures shown in terracotta
    slabs. Among them are the two crafts that show resemblance to the current day helicopter and
    the passenger airplane. A third is said to show a structure similar to a faster craft may be used
    in battle. There is however references that the queen “Devayani”, mother of Tharaka, 8
    Surapadma and Sinha-mukha, showed her sons how the bombing is done. Where it is said that
    rock turned into marble. Only at very high temperatures will this happen and either a nuclear or
    a plasma grade weapon is necessary to do such damage.
    (Suriya Gunasekera, 2006)
    There are findings of airplane like structures all round the world. The first is from Egypt,
    which resembles a bird. Although archaeologists categorised it as a bird at first, people now
    have their doubts about it. The wings that are flat as well as a tail which is vertical rather than
    horizontal are the facts that tell us it’s actually a sculpture of an airplane.

    Different types of Airplanes in used in ancient India
    Vimanaas-Planes In ancient India

    The writings on the sculpture said it was the “Gift of Amon”. “Amon” is the god of wind in
    Egyptian mythology. As I suspect, this is not a gift from Amon, but a gift to Amon. From whom, I
    do not know, but it might as well be from Ravana.
    A similar finding was done in Central America and coastlines of South America. This time
    it was made out of gold rather than wood. The sculpture shows patterns of wind upon it very
    clearly.

    The sunken City of Ravana.

    In the South-East of Sri Lanka there are two lighthouses erected on two small islands,
    known even today as “Maha Ravana Kotte” (Great Basses) and “Kuda Ravana Kotte”. The word
    “Kotte” may well be fort. There is evidence in the nearby vicinity that depicts the ruins of a fort
    or a citadel. However the rocks that are visible only in the low tide can only be examined with
    great care as the sea is very rough in the area.
    The “Lankapura” that is in the Ramayana cannot be located anywhere in the island.
    Therefore the only clues that come from are from the sea. The findings from a Babylonian
    terracotta slab revealed that the city Babylon was constructed according to the instructions
    given by the “Lion People” that came from the sky. This is acceptable, since we know that the
    king Sinha-Mukha (Lion Mouth?) built the city, and he may have led a team of engineers to help

    build Babylon according to his city. Comparing the records of Plato (4th Cent. BC) and the
    description that comes from Ramayana’s Hanuman, Plato’s Atlantis and Hanuman’s Lankapura
    seem to be the same.
    Then where is this city of gold? To find the city now, we would have to dive deep in the
    eastern seas of Sri Lanka. Legend has it after the death of Ravana; the city sank into the sea.
    Clues can be found in the areas given above, where the lighthouses were and the areas of
    Trincomalee. The lover’s leap is a ridge of rock that is no natural formation, a good indicator
    that the land that was once connected to it, sank in to the sea.
    People still have no correct answer to whether the city was actually there or how it sank,
    but recent history tells us how it sank. The tidal wave that hit the eastern shore tore apart most
    of the buildings and took many lives. We could place our doubt in a larger scale tidal wave,
    bringing the city down. Since there are no ground structures even islands left in the eastern
    shoreline, we can assume that most of the city was artificially built ground

    Other Facts.

    There are several other scattered facts that support the existence of Ravana. One of them
    is a holding cell that is said to have held “Seetha” while Ravana was carrying her to his kingdom.
    This is found in the Devinuwara area. This conflict with the stories that tell Seetha was held in
    the hill country where “Seetha-eliya” is. But as we know, the kingdom that we know as
    “Lankapura”, was in the Eastern shores of the island. The holding cell that we talk about,
    support that fact. It was supposed to have made for Seetha to rest on the journey to the
    capital.

    Cell where Sita was imprisoned,Sri Lanka
    Side view of the Place where Sita was imprisoned,Lankapura.

    We took into account various facts and sources that prove or disprove the existence of
    Ravana. From all these facts that have been laid out, my opinion is that Ravana did exist. The
    ambiguities that arise saying otherwise are there because of the lack of solid facts. But, like all
    other great findings, they will come some day, slowly though, to prove that there was actually a
    great kingdom, here in our country.
    History is the very foundation of a civilization. Our history is golden compared to other
    countries’ past records. But some have ignored it or covered it with a veil of dust and mud. It is
    time for us to clean that dust and rediscover the gold that lies within our legends, the golden
    part that lies within us ourselves. It is time to rewrite our history from scratch, to rewrite the
    true version; not something that was planted there purposely.
    Finally, I tell you, Ravana is solid fact. There is too mush evidence to believe he was only a
    myth. A real king that walked in our country, leading it to be the world’s number one.

    Sources:

    http://www.ent.mrt.ac.lk/~040119/study/IMAGES/Independant_Study_Report.pdf

    http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120422093213AAVfZMc

    Related:

    Satellite has shown the existence of bridge between India & Sri Lanka. At Anuradhapura hills, you will find a large patch of vegetation which doesnt tally with the local vegetation at all and corresponds to Himalayan Vegetation..

     

     

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