King Ravana ruled over Hela Dvipa (Hela Island, now Sri Lanka) from 2554 to 2517 BC. He is a legend who made the Hela Dvipa an island resplendent with much socio-economic and scientific advancement during his tenure.
His kingdom was based in Rassagala, a charming region between the central mountains and the Sinharaja range, which is now a village with very small population in the province of Sabaragamuwa. The locals there believe Ravana is immortal, his knowledge or the immortal half of Ravana still remains hidden inside Pettigala, a box shaped rock close to Rassagala.
Among Ravana’s children, there was a prince named Indrajith and a princess called Soheli. They were twins. Indrajith grew up to become Meghanada and Soheli as Sita (locally called Sitha).
Sita was misplaced in her young age only to be located by Ravana later. Ravana provided total protection to Sita thereafter and even took her in Dandu Monara with him on flights to Chariot Path.
Dandu Monara
It is worth looking into the technological processes deployed in Dandu Monara. Dandu Monara means ‘Wooden Peacock’ that flies. Dandu Monara is very similar to the modern-day helicopter but without the rotors.
Ravana had mastered the formula for the ‘Gravitational Attraction liberation’ which in Sanskrit is known as Guruthwa Akarshana Vimukti. Gravitational Attraction is caused by Guruthwa Dhatu (Sanskrit).
Sanskrit term Dhatu means ‘root’ and refers to all material and non-material elements, and neither. There is no direct translation of Dhatu into English. The nearest term is ‘element’ used in physics and chemistry, which is limited to gravity-borne matter only.
Sanskrit term ‘Guruthwa Dhatu‘ means the class of the Dhatu which causes the attraction and its total realization of why and how it causes the attraction, while the term gravity which is an entity named in science is different from ‘Guruthwa Dhatu’. Gravity is an entity that is limited to the observed properties of attraction, measurements, mathematical relations and the setting up of the base for physics.
Ravana knew how to deactivate Guruthwa Dhatu, and installed a mechanism in Dandu Monara to freeze the Guruthwa Dhatus of the craft and its contents for the take-off. There was a simple device to manoeuvre the flight. He would turn off the antigravity mechanism gradually during landing.
Ravana’s stunning natural discoveries
Sitting in Rassagala, Ravana could see the entire southern face of the central mountains. He selected several ravishing locations on the hills which he traversed around in his Dandu Monara.
Ravana kept a lookout detachment on the top of the Wangedigala mountain and made observation visits on Dandu Monara. Wangedigala is a popular camping site among the hikers today. Wangedigala can be reached from the Devil’s Staircase.
Devil’s Staircase trekker’s route starts from Kalupahana Junction on the A4 and ascends 3600 ft (1100 m) in less than 12 km to make it to Ohiya and from there to a road leading to Horton Plains National Park. The Devil’s Staircase trekkers go past Bambarakanda Falls, the highest waterfall in Sri Lanka. Close to Bambarakanda Falls, hidden in the hills is Lanka Ella falls, a cool, calm and beautiful place to relax. Ravana chose Lanka Ella visits frequently for a rest in this tranquilizing heaven.
Another popular spot chosen by King Ravana to call on is the awe-inspiring Ravana Falls in the small village of Ella in the Uva hills. Ravana Falls is a popular sightseeing attraction today in Sri Lanka.
Mythology
The story of King Ravana is written into the history of many countries.
Dussehra is celebrated every year in India to mark the victory of Ram of India who went to war with Ravana of Lanka over taking the possession of Sita, according to the Ramayana, a mythological story which portrays Ravana in a negative light. No such war ever took place. Some believe the Ramayana to be merely semi-fiction, based upon the life of a real king who had ruled over Hela Dvipa some 4575 years ago.
Ravana is often portrayed with ten heads. The heads are symbolic of his vast knowledge – they represent his mastery over the four Vedas and the six Shastras. Some believe Ravana could do ten things simultaneously in a flash so his mother Kaikashi gave Ravana the name Ten Heads.
Thotsakan sculpture stands guardian of Wat Phra Kaew, commonly known in English as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. Thotsakan’s character refers to Ravana who is depicted with multi faces in Thailand as well as India. Here he has ten – a main one, three on the back of his head and six others on his headdress, plus twenty arms and a whole load of useful weapons.
The Ravana mythology differs from one country to other and so is his name. Some names are – Bengali: Rabon, Hindi: Ravana, Tamil: Raavanan, Kannada: Raavana, Burmese: jawena, Indonesian: Rahwana, Javanese: Rahwana or Dasamuka (ten faced), Khmer: Rabana or Rab, Lao: Raphanasuan, Malay: Rawana or Wana, Thai: Thosakan (Dashakanta or ten necked), Yuan (China and Mongolia): Rahbanasun.
Hela Wedakama
Sri Lanka has its own indigenous scheme of traditional medicine which is called “Hela Wedakama” (Hela Medicine), apart from Ayurveda. Hela Wedakama is an ancient traditional knowledge of healthcare and healing practices that has been serving the natives for over 9000 years.
The references of Hela medicine in Sri Lanka are associated with a great physician, Ravana. He represented Hela Dvipa at a medical conference at Himalaya. King Ravana was the author of the medicine books: Arkaprakasya, Nadivignanaya, Kumarathanthraya and Udishathanthraya.
Pulasthi Rishi, father of Ravana was a skilled physician. The traditional indigenous medicine was used in the oldest hospital in the world at Mihintale. The remains of the Mihintale hospital built by King Sena II (853-887 AD) can be seen even today.
The Hela Wedakama is served today in Ritigala by families having direct ancestral lineage of Ravana. Most of the plants and herbs found in Sinharaja Forest Reserve are used for the preparation of indigenous medicine and the practice has been the same since the time of Ravana.