Laṅkā
Śūrpaṇakhā
Sister of Rāvaṇa. The spark of the war.
Araṇya KāṇḍaVālmīki (primary text)In the text
Śūrpaṇakhā lives in the Daṇḍaka forest near Pañcavaṭī, where she sees Rāma and proposes to him. Rāma sends her to Lakṣmaṇa, who sends her back. She attacks Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa cuts off her nose and ears. She goes to her brother Khara and then to Rāvaṇa, whom she goads by describing Sītā's beauty.
Primary text: Śrīmad Vālmīkīya Rāmāyaṇa, Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Later traditions and living-tradition associations are labelled as such. Return to the Rāmāyaṇa World.