In the footsteps of Ravana

The book traces his reign to the Kumana region using a mix of archaeological finds and the abundant regional legends and folklore around him

Ravana’s Lanka: The landscape of a lost kingdom

Author: Sunela Jayewardene

Publisher: Penguin Vintage

Pages: 336    

Price: Rs 499

The Ramayana needs little introduction to anyone in India. But unlike its hero Rama, who has aged remarkably well and whose image has become a symbol of resurgent nationalism in the country, the defeated king of Lanka, Ravana, has paled into a cardboard version of himself. Demonic and devilish, his only place in the popular imagination in India is as a flaming effigy crumbling in the fire.
 

There is definitely much more to the mythical king than his ten heads and his