Lanka /'l?k?/ (Sanskrit: ????? lanka meaning "island", Sinhala: ???????

(Langkapu
ra), Malay: Langkapuri, Tamil: ??????(Ilankai) or ???????? (Lankapuri), Javanese
and Indonesian: Alengka or Ngalengka) is the name given in Hindu mythology to t
he island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics
, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The fortress was situated on a plateau betwe
en three mountain peaks known as the Trikuta Mountains. The ancient City of Lank
apura is thought to have been burnt down by Lord Hanuman. After the King Ravana
was killed by Lord Rama with the help of the former's brother Vibhishana, Vibhis
hana was crowned King of Lankapura by Lord Rama after which he ruled the kingdom
. The mythological Lankapuri is identified today as Sri Lanka.
His descendants ruled the kingdom even during the period of the Pandavas. Accord
ing to the epic, the Mahabharata, the Pandava Sahadeva had visited this kingdom
during his southern military campaign for the Rajasuya sacrifice of Pandava king
Yudhisthira.
Contents [hide]
Rulers of Lanka[edit]
Lanka was originally ruled by a Rakshasa named Sumali (as per Ramayana). Later i
t was taken by Visarvana (Kubera) who was a Yaksha. From him, Rakshasa Ravana, t
ook the rulership of Lanka. Rama killed Ravana and installed his brother Vibhish
ana on the throne of Lanka. According to both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata,
the Yaksha king Vaisravana alias Kubera was the ruler of Lanka. His capital was
guarded by Rakshasas. His half-brother Ravana (son of the sage Vishravaya and Su
mali's daughter) fought with Kubera in battle and obtained the sovereignty of La
nka from him. Ravana ruled Lanka as the king of Rakshasas. Having slain the king
of the Rakshasas, viz Ravana, with his brother Kumbhakarna, and sons and kindre
d, Rama installed in the kingdom of Lanka the Rakshasa chief, Vibhishana, pious,
and reverent, and kind to devoted dependents. The battle in Lanka is depicted i
n a famous bas-relief in the 12th century Khmer temple of Angkor Wat.
Hanuman Watches Lanka Burn
Lanka, Sri Lanka, and possible locations[edit]
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. The Ramayana, as also several other surviving Hindu texts, cle
arly state that Ravana's Lanka was situated 100 Yojanas (800 miles or around 128
8 kilometres) away from mainland India. Some scholars have interpreted the conte
nt of these texts to determine that Lanka was located at the point where the Pri
me-Meridian of India passes the Equator.[1][2] This island would therefore lie m
ore than a hundred miles South-west of present-day country of Sri Lanka. The mos
t original of all the existing versions of Valmiki's Ramayana also suggest the l
ocation of Ravana's Lanka to be in the western Indian Ocean. In fact it indicate
s that Lanka was in the midst of a series of large island-nations, submerged mou
ntains, and sunken plateaus in the western part of the Indian Ocean.Valmiki's Ra
mayana[3]
There has been a lot of speculation by several scholars, that Ravana's Lanka mig
ht have been in the Indian Ocean around where the Maldives once stood as a high
mountain, before getting submerged in the Indian Ocean.[4][5][6]
1 People referenced in Lanka
2 Rulers of Lanka
3 Lanka, Sri Lanka, and possible locations
4 Description
5 References to Lanka in the Mahabharata
5.1 Sahadeva's expedition to South
5.2 Presence of the King of Lanka in Yudhisthira's Rajasuya
5.3 Other fragmentary references
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
People referenced in Lanka[edit]

Deva - There is no specific details about Deva. But Ravana has worshipped Lord S
hiva. This means Deva (God) worship was not uncommon.
Rakshasa - Ravana, Indrajit, Kumbhakarna
Yaksha - Kubera
Naga - Indrajit's wife