5 reasons why Lankesh Ravana was respected despite being a demon king

Ramayana is a Sanskrit epic pic tale of Ancient India that has also been transformed into famous films and TV series. The tale narrates the life of Rama and his fourteen-year exile to the forest. The epic tale features Lankesh Ravana who kidnaps Rama’s wife, Sita. Despite being the bad guy in the story, a number of people respected him, including Rama himself. Let’s take a deep dive into why Lankesh Ravana was respected, as observed in Devdutt Pattnaik's blog about "This Was Ravan too" and popular lore about the character. 

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5 reasons why Lankesh Ravana was respected

• Ravana was well-educated and was considered to be extremely intelligent. According to Devdutt Pattnaik's blog post, he was a learned scholar and was even well-versed in the six shastras and the four Vedas. Rama had also asked his brother Lakshman to sit beside Ravana to learn important lessons in statecraft and diplomacy while he was dying. He was also the author of 7 books written on Ayurveda. 
• Ravana was also considered as a true devotee of Lord Shiva. According to Valmiki's Ramayana, Ravana even performed a Yagya for Rama and arrived there to give his blessings. It is said that this Yagya was done in order to get blessings from Lord Shiva before using the bridge created by his army. Even though Ram was his enemy, Ravana decided to honour him by performing the Yagya. 
• According to Devdutt Pattnaik's blog, Ravana is also respected a lot for being a man of principles. This was because of the fact that he never harmed or even touched Sita without her permission. It is said that this was because he possessed high values and always followed his principles. He even kidnapped Sita only after Lakshman scraped Supranakha's nose off.
• Ravana was also a great innovator and his love for science has been evident through the Ramanyana tales. It is also said, according to Valmiki's Ramayana, that he built his flying vehicle, pushpaka vimana through his scientific knowledge. His intelligence is one of the most popular reasons Ravana is worshipped and respected by a huge number of people. 
• Ravana is also respected throughout Shri Lanka as a great king and a grandson of Brahma. The Ramayana and a number of his followers and even various versions of Ramayan state that he was the son of famous rishi, Visravas. His father was the son of Prajapati Pulastya who is considered to be one of Brahma’s ten ‘mind-born’ sons. Valmiki Ramayana, he also had the ability to control the sunrise and sunset. It is also said that during the birth of his son Meghnad, Ravana had ‘instructed’ the planets to stay in the 11th house of the child which could make him immortal. 

Saif Ali Khan and Lankesh Ravana

Due to its popularity, the film industry is also stepping in to adapt the Ramayana into a movie. Saif Ali Khan is going to play the role of Lankesh in Prabhas starrer, Adipurush. The film is going to be action-drama film and will feature a number of popular faces of the industry. Prabhas also shared a post confirming the same. Here is Prabhas’ post for Adipurush. 

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