Laṅkā
Laṅkā
Laṅkā is Rāvaṇa's capital, on the peak of Mount Trikūṭa. Vālmīki shows it through Hanumān's eyes: a golden boundary wall, moats of lotuses, streets hung with flags, music at night and Vedic recitation in the houses. It is wealthy, fortified and orderly. Hanumān enters it by stealth, Rāma's army later takes position at its gates, and Vibhīṣaṇa is consecrated its king.
Sundara Kāṇḍa sargas 2–3Vālmīki (primary text)In the text
Why it matters
Vālmīki describes Laṅkā in detail, as a great capital rather than a den of monsters. Hanumān walks its streets as a spy and finds a city at ease. When he burns it, Vibhīṣaṇa's house is the one he passes over, and Vibhīṣaṇa is later consecrated king of the rākṣasas, so the city passes from Rāvaṇa to one of its own.
What Vālmīki describes
Hanumān first sees Laṅkā on the peak of Mount Trikūṭa (Sundara Kāṇḍa sarga 2). Vālmīki gives it a golden boundary wall, moats full of lotuses and water-lilies, and streets with flags and pennons, all guarded by rākṣasas. Hanumān shrinks and enters at night. At the gate the city's guardian, Laṅkā herself, rises to stop him; he strikes her down, and she yields and tells him to enter (Sundara Kāṇḍa sarga 3).
Inside, he passes moonlit mansions and hears instruments and song, and rākṣasas reciting and studying the Vedas in their houses (Sundara Kāṇḍa sargas 4–5). Rāvaṇa's palace is a vast walled complex with gold and silver archways, gold couches and vessels, music and sandalwood (Sundara Kāṇḍa sargas 5–6).
Key moments
- Hanumān sets fire to the mansions of Prahasta, Kumbhakarṇa and others, and finally Rāvaṇa's house; Vibhīṣaṇa's house is passed over (Sundara 54).
- Lakṣmaṇa consecrates Vibhīṣaṇa king of the rākṣasas with sea-water after he takes refuge with Rāma (Yuddha 19).
- Vibhīṣaṇa's spies report the gates: Prahasta east, Mahāpārśva and Mahodara south, Indrajit west, Rāvaṇa north (Yuddha 37).
- Rāma deploys Nīla at the east gate, Aṅgada south, Hanumān west, himself and Lakṣmaṇa north, with Sugrīva at the centre (Yuddha 41).
- After Rāvaṇa's fall Vibhīṣaṇa is installed as king in Laṅkā (Yuddha 112).
Primary text: Śrīmad Vālmīkīya Rāmāyaṇa, Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Later traditions and living-tradition associations are labelled as such. Return to the Rāmāyaṇa World.