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{{Short description|Island kingdom in Hindu mythology}}
{{for-multi|the modern country|Sri Lanka|other uses|Lanka (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2015}}
{{use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
[[File:The golden abode of King Ravana India.jpg|thumb|300px|The golden abode of King Ravana]]
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

'''Lanka''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ae|ŋ|k|@}}; {{IPA|sa|ˈlɐŋkaː|lang}}) is the name given in [[Hindu epic]]s to the island fortress capital of the legendary [[Rakshasa]] king [[Ravana]] in the epics of the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and the ''[[Mahabharata]]''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known as the [[Trikuta Mountains]]. The ancient city of Lankapura is said to have been burnt down by [[Hanuman]]. After its king, Ravana was killed by [[Rama]] with the help of Ravana's brother [[Vibhishana]], the latter was crowned king of Lankapura. His descendants were said to still rule the kingdom during the period of the [[Pandava]]s. According to the ''Mahabharata'', the Pandava [[Sahadeva]] visited this kingdom during his southern military campaign for the [[rajasuya]] of [[Yudhishthira]]. The palaces of Ravana were said to be guarded by four-tusked elephants.<ref>Valmiki Ramayan, Sundar Kanda [4.27. 12]</ref>

== Ramayana ==

===Rulers of Lanka===
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2015}}
According to both the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', Lanka was originally ruled by a [[rakshasa]] named [[Sumali]]. According to Uttara Kanda, [[Vishwakarma]], the divine architect of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]], had originally built Lanka for [[Shiva]], but was seized by the brothers Malyavan, Sumali and Mali. The brothers ruled for thousands of years and invaded [[Amaravati (mythology)|Amaravati]], the capital of the Devas. After suffering a humiliating and disastrous defeat at the hands of [[Vishnu]], the brothers were too ashamed to return to Lanka. [[Kubera]] seized control of Lanka and established the [[Yaksha kingdom]] and his capital was guarded by [[rakshasa]]s. His half-brother [[Ravana]], son of the sage [[Vishrava]] and Sumali's daughter [[Kaikesi]], fought with Kubera and took Lanka from him. Ravana ruled Lanka as king of the [[Rakshasa kingdom]]. The battle in Lanka is depicted in a famous [[relief]] in the 12th-century [[Khmer people|Khmer]] temple of [[Angkor Wat]]. After Ravana's death, he was succeeded by his brother, [[Vibhishana]].

[[File: Hanuman fires Lanka.jpg|thumb|Hanuman sets fire to Lanka.]]

# [[Malyavan]], [[Sumali]] and Mali were the sons of Sukesha. They ordered Vishwakarma to build the city for them.
# [[Kubera]] was a [[Yaksha]] King. He remade and ruled Lanka upon [[Vishnu]]'s request.
# [[Ravana]] forced his elder brother [[Kubera]] to run away from Lanka after his penance to [[Brahma]] and [[Shiva]] and became the prince of Lanka; Sumali became the King of Lanka agaun. After [[Sumali]]'s death, he became the ruler of Lanka.
# [[Vibhishana]], after [[Ravana]]'s death, and on the order of [[Rama]], ruled Lanka. He was given immortality by Rama, thus he has ruled Lanka and the Rakshasas ever since.

===Location of Ravana's "Lanka" according to Ramayana===
The Lanka referred to in the still-extant Hindu Texts and the [[Ramayana]] (referred to as [[Ravana]]'s Lanka), is considered to be a large island-country, situated in the Indian Ocean. Studies refer that the Palace of Ravana was located in [[Sigiriya]] the palace built by the [[Kashyapa I of Anuradhapura]] as the legend describes the capital of the kingdom was located between plateaus and forests. Some scholars asserted that it must have been [[Sri Lanka]] because it is so stated in the 5th century Sri Lankan text ''[[Mahavamsa]]''.<ref name="bradddell"/> The Ramayana states that Ravana's Lanka was situated 100 [[Yojana]]s away from mainland India.<ref>Valmiki Ramayana 4.58.20</ref><ref>Valmiki Ramayana 4.58.24</ref>

Some scholars have interpreted the content of these texts to determine that Lanka was located at the point where the Prime-Meridian of India passes the [[Equator]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQ8iAVwA-yEC&pg=PA20 |title=The Indian calendar, with tables for ... – Google Books |isbn=9788120812079 |access-date=26 January 2011|last1=Sewell |first1=Robert |last2=Dikshit |first2=S. B. |date=31 May 1995 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bharathgyan.com/geo.htm |title=Bharath Gyan |publisher=Bharath Gyan |access-date=26 January 2011 |archive-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304195357/http://www.bharathgyan.com/geo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> This island would therefore lie more than {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} southwest of present-day country of Sri Lanka. The most original of all the existing versions of [[Valmiki]]'s [[Ramayana]] also suggest the location of Ravana's Lanka to be in the western [[Indian Ocean]]. It indicates that Lanka was in the midst of a series of large island-nations, submerged mountains, and sunken plateaus in the western part of the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.venkatesaya.com/255.ramayana/daily.readings.php?m=7&d=1 |title=Valmiki's Ramayana |access-date=24 December 2012 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303063254/http://www.venkatesaya.com/255.ramayana/daily.readings.php?m=7&d=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mkSzznK3VuEC|title=The Concise R_m_ya_a of V_lm_ki|last1=Vālmīki|last2=Venkatesananda|first2=Swami|date=1988-01-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780887068621|language=en}}</ref>

There has been a lot of speculation by several scholars since the 19th century that Ravana's Lanka might have been in the Indian Ocean around where the [[Maldives]] once stood as a high mountain, before getting submerged in the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0A6OK9ODPTwC&pg=PA328 |title=The Hindu Pantheon – Edward Moor – Google Books |isbn=9788120602373 |access-date=2012-11-07|last1=Moor |first1=Edward |year=1999 |publisher=Asian Educational Services }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bftD5eyU7vgC&q=Ravana+Lanka+Maldives&pg=PA141 |title=Excerpta Máldiviana - H.C.P. Bell, Harry Charles Purvis Bell - Google Books |isbn=9788120612211 |access-date=2012-11-07|last1=Bell |first1=Harry Charles Purvis |year=1998 |publisher=Asian Educational Services }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XnUgrwuqugC&pg=PA81 |title=Ravana - The Great King of Lanka - M.S. Purnalingam Pillai - Google Books |isbn=9788120605473 |access-date=2012-11-07|last1=Purnalingam Pillai |first1=M. S. |year=1993 |publisher=Asian Educational Services }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.southasiaarchive.com/Content/sarf.120045/206785/004 |title=Situation of Ravana's Lamka on the Equator |journal=The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society |volume= XVII |issue= 1 |date= 1926 }}</ref> This speculation is supported by the presence of Minicoy Island in the vicinity between India and Maldives, the ancient name being Minikaa, or Mainaka (the mountain met by Hanuman on his way to Lanka), which in the ancient language of the place means "cannibal", probably a reference to Sursa, as cannibals from the Nicobars were frequently found here, along with snakes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Patrick |date=1796 |title=An Account of Indian Serpents Collected on the Coast of Coromandel |url=https://www.seaturtlesofindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bhaskar-S.-1979.-Notes-from-Lakshadweep.-Hamadryad-41-7-9..pdf |website=Sea Turtles of India}}</ref> [[Sumatra]] and [[Madagascar]] has also been suggested as a possibility.<ref name="bradddell">{{cite journal |jstor=41559897 |title=An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Times in the Malay Peninsula and the Straits of Malacca |first=Roland |last= Braddell|journal=Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume= 15|number= 3 (129) |date=December 1937|pages= 64–126 }}</ref>

===Description===
[[File:Hanuman Watches Lanka Burn.jpg|thumb|''Hanuman Watches Lanka Burn'', [[Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi]], 1916]]
Ravana's Lanka, and its capital Lankapuri, are described in a manner that seems superhuman even by modern-day standards. Ravana's central palace complex (main citadel) was a massive collection of several edifices that reached over one yojana ({{convert|13|km|mi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}) in height, one yojana in length, and half a yojana in breadth. The island had a large mountain range known as the Trikuta Mountain (Trikonamalai-In Tamil/Trinkomale-English,where Ravan built Temple for shiva), atop which was situated Ravana's capital of Lanka, at the center of which in turn stood his citadel.<!-- The following seems both unlikely and not in the citations given. Let's hide it until someone confirms: The city itself is described as being 100 Yojanas (ca 1,300 km or 800 mi) long and 30 Yojanas (ca 400 km or 250 mi) in breadth.{{not in citation given|reason=30 yojanas etc. is not given in the citation, see talk|date=April 2016}}--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sanskritdocuments.org/sites/valmikiramayan/sundara/sarga9/sundara_9_frame.htm |title=Valmiki Ramayana – Sundara Kanda – Sarga 9 |publisher=Sanskritdocuments.org |date=2008-12-07 |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWlsWQ8foNgC&pg=PT140 |title=The Society of the Rāmāyaṇa – Ananda W. P. Guruge – Google Books |isbn=9788170172659 |access-date=2012-11-07|last1=Guruge |first1=Ananda W. P. |year=1991 |publisher=Abhinav Publications }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFJlAAAAIAAJ&q=Ramayana+Lanka+city+Yojanas+long+breadth |title=Srimad Valmiki-Ramayana - Vālmīki - Google Books |access-date=2012-11-07|author1=Vālmīki |year=1976 }}</ref>

==References to Lanka in the Mahabharata==
Many of the references to Lanka in the Mahabharata are found in sage [[Markandeya]]'s narration of the story of [[Rama]] and [[Sita]] to the king [[Yudhishthira]], which narration amounts to a truncated version of the [[Ramayana]]. The references in the following summary are to the Mahabharata and adhere to the following form: (book:section). [[Markandeya]]'s narration of the story begins at Book III (Varna Parva), Section 271 of the Mahabharata.

===Sahadeva's expedition to South===

[[Sahadeva]], the son of [[Pandu]], conquered the town of Sanjayanti and the country of the Pashandas and the [[Karnata kingdom|Karanatakas]] utilizing his messengers alone and made all of them pay tributes to him. The hero brought under his subjection and exacted tributes from the Paundrayas ([[Pandya kingdom|Pandyas]]?) and the [[Dravida kingdom|Dravidas]] along with the Udrakeralas and the [[Andhra kingdom|Andhras]] and the Talavanas, the [[Kalinga (Mahabharata)|Kalinga]]s and the Ushtrakarnikas, and also the delightful city of Atavi and that of the [[Yavanas]]. And, He has arrived at the seashore, then dispatched with great assurance messengers unto the illustrious [[Vibhishana]], the grandson of Pulastya and the ruler of [[Lanka kingdom|Lanka]] (2:30).

===Presence of the King of Lanka in Yudhishthira's Rajasuya===
''Lanka king is listed as present in the conclave of kings present in [[Pandava]] king [[Yudhishthira]]'s [[Rajasuya]] sacrifice.''

The [[Vanga kingdom|Vangas]] and [[Anga kingdom|Angas]] and [[Pundra kingdom|Paundras]] and [[Odra kingdom|Odras]] and [[Chola kingdom|Cholas]] and [[Dravida kingdom|Dravidas]] and [[Chera Dynasties|Cheras]] and [[Pandya kingdom|Pandyas]] and [[Mushika kingdom|Mushika]] and [[Andhra kingdom|Andhakas]], and the chiefs of many islands and countries on the seaboard as also of frontier states, including the rulers of the Tamils of Lanka, the barbarous [[Mleccha|mlecchas]], the natives of Lanka, and all the kings of the West by hundreds, and all the chiefs of the seacoast, and the kings of the [[Pahlava kingdom|Pahlavas]] and the [[Darada kingdom|Daradas]] and the various tribes of the [[Kirata kingdom|Kiratas]] and [[Yavanas]] and [[Scythians in the Mahabharata|Sakras]] and the [[Hara Huna kingdom|Harahunas]] and [[China of Mahabharata|Chinas]] and [[Tushara kingdom|Tukharas]] and the [[Sindhu kingdom|Sindhavas]] and the Jagudas and the Ramathas and the Mundas and the inhabitants of the kingdom of women and the Tanganas and the [[Kekaya kingdom|Kekayas]] and the [[Malava kingdom|Malavas]] and the inhabitants of [[Kasmira kingdom|Kasmira]]... (3:51).

===Other fragmentary references===

*Lanka, with its warriors, and horses, elephants and chariots (3:149).
*Lanka with its towers and ramparts and gates (3:147)
*The walls of Lanka (3:282).
*4 tusked elephants (4.27.12)

== See also ==
*[[Sri Lanka]]
*[[Mahajanapadas]]
*[[Ancient clans of Lanka]]
*[[Naga people (Lanka)|Naga people]]
*[[Sinhala Kingdom]]
*[[Vishvakarma]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/index.htm Mahabharata] of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated from Sanskrit into English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

{{Tribes and kingdoms of the Mahabharata}}
{{Ramayana}}

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[[Category:Kingdoms in the Ramayana]]
[[Category:Kingdoms in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological islands]]