We have all grown up listening to many half-truth stories from mythology and history.   We have heard many tales with twisted facts about the characters in it; one such character is of Ravana in Ramayana, we have made him a villain. The legendary story of Ramayana comes from the land of India where a major festival is based on the same theme. The festival is known as Dussehra. Many people also call it Vijayadashmi.  Lord Rama destroyed the ten evil faces of the demon Ravana, he therefore became the hero, and Ravana is considered just as the villain. We are languid about getting most of the facts precise because historians have distorted the facts. 

The fact is Ravana was an unsung hero. Well, I have read few books carrying scientific bibliography on Ramayana such as Ravana Samhita, The Human Trinity, Mandodari, The interesting facts about Ravana etc. It’s really sad that there were many good qualities of Ravana which qualify him as a good leader, as a hero. The renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik says Ravana was a great Brahmin scholar with over 12 books to his credit. It is believed that Rama performed penance after he killed a Brahmin in Ravana. Rama himself accepted and appreciated that Ravana was a great warrior of infinite courage.

Yes, Ravana abducted Rama’s wife Sita, but he never touched her.  He abducted Sita for a reason. Going by the Uttara Kanda (final years of Ram and Sita) of Valmiki Ramayana, a sage called Agastya tells Rama that why his wife, Sita, was stolen by Ravana. However, Ravana had learned from another sage that a demon could attain moksha (eternal bliss) after being killed by Hari (the Lord Vishnu). Rama was an avatara (manifestation) of Vishnu. Ravana belonged to a demon clan. Although his father, Vishwashrava, was a sage belonging to the Pulastya clan, his mother Kaikasi belonged to a demon clan.  Therefore, he figured out a way to enter into a conflict with Lord Rama. Ravana kidnapped Sita so that Rama would kill and liberate not only him but his entire clan.

Six years back when I had visited Sri Lanka, I have seen how staunchly the Sri Lankans worship Ravana, he is God for the Sri Lankan Hindus. For the Sri Lankan Hindus (who form 12.6% of the total population in Sri Lanka), Raavan was the greatest ruler the world has ever seen. 

Here are some authentic facts of Ravana: He was a king with the powerful administration (Leadership) qualities. Ravana belonged to a highly intellectual family. He was born to great sage Visravas and Kaikesi from demon clan. Ravan’s father was the famous rishi, Visravas, who himself was a son of Prajapati Pulastya. Since his father was a saptrishi (seven greatest sages), Ravana had the access to good education and martial arts training. Ravana was a scholar and connoisseur of arts. Ravana possessed thorough knowledge of Ayurveda and political sciences.

His ten heads represent that his knowledge of the six Shastras and the four Vedas. Ravana was tremendously knowledgeable and was a great archer, which made him administer a great kingdom. He was an Ayurvedic physician. It has been mentioned in some historical references that Ravana had authored seven books in Ayurveda one on treatment to infants. He had profound knowledge on the healing power of natural ingredients and could cure ailments. He was a great musician, he played veena and was a profound at playing the musical instrument. He was ahead in technology of those times; he invented the pushpak viman, on which he abducted Sita from Ashok Vatika India during his time. That was an advanced flying vehicle as that was clearly a pre-aeronautical era. I therefore call him an aeronautics engineer. Ravana was also religious in nature, he worshipped Lord Shiva. He meditated and prayed to Lord Shiva to get divine powers to use weapons. This made him more powerful. When you read the details about war between Rama and Ravana, you will find that Ravana was a better war strategist and followed morals as well.

Why the hell is Ravana burnt on Dussehra year after year? It is because we have wrong facts about him.  When we repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth, this is a law of propaganda. Liars create an illusion of truth until they are fixed rightly.