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Ravana was a demon king of Lanka and the chief antagonist in the Hindu epic Ramayana and its adaptations.
Rakshasa is a supernatural being in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Rakshasas are also called "man-eaters". A female rakshasa is known as a rakshasi. A female rakshasi in human form is a rakshesha. The terms asura and rakshasa are sometimes used interchangeably.
Kubera also known as Kuvera, Kuber or Kuberan, is the god of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu culture. He is regarded as the regent of the North (Dik-pala), and a protector of the world (Lokapala). His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of the world. Kubera is often depicted with a plump body, adorned with jewels, and carrying a money-pot and a club.
Lanka is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known as the Trikuta Mountains. The ancient city of Lankapura is thought to have been burnt down by Hanuman. After its king, Ravana, was killed by Rama with the help of Ravana's brother Vibhishana, the latter was crowned king of Lankapura. The site of Lankā is identified with Sri Lanka. His descendants were said to still rule the kingdom during the period of the Pandavas. According to the Mahabharata, the Pandava Sahadeva visited this kingdom during his southern military campaign for the rajasuya of Yudhishthira.
In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Maricha, or Mareecha is a rakshasa (demon), who was killed by Rama, the hero of the epic and an avatar of God Vishnu. He is mentioned as an ally of Ravana, the antagonist of the epic. His most notable exploit is his role in the kidnapping of Sita, Rama's wife. His son Kalanemi was killed by Hanuman.
Hindu mythological wars are the battles described in the Hindu texts of ancient India. These battles depicted great heroes, demons, celestial weapons and supernatural beings. Major wars were fought with the aim of upholding the Dharma over Adharma. The purpose of the wars is often described as the removal of demonic beings or lords and rulers who pursued war with ambition and domination. Hindu teachings prescribe war as the final option, to be employed only after all peaceful methods are exhausted. But, when this time comes, war is taught to be a matter of great personal and social importance, where every man who belongs to the warrior caste must do his duty, exemplifying courage, honor, and fearsome prowess against all odds and even at the cost of his life.
Chedi (Sanskrit:चेदी) was an ancient Indian mahajanapada, a kingdom which fell roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna along the river Ken. Its capital city was called Suktimati in Sanskrit and Sotthivati-nagara in Pali. In Pali-language Buddhist texts, it is listed as one of the sixteen mahajanapadas.
Danda is a frequently featured region in Hindu mythology, as in Dandaka, a kingdom and a forest bearing the same name. It was a colonial state of Lanka under the reign of Ravana. Ravana's governor Khara ruled this province. It was the stronghold of all the Rakshasa tribes living in the Dandaka Forest. It is roughly the Nashik District, Maharashtra with Janasthana as its capital. It was from here that the Rakshasa Khara attacked Raghava Rama of Kosala, who lived with his wife and brother at Panchavati, not far away.
Kalinga is a tribe described in the legendary Indian text Mahabharata. They were a warrior clan who settled in and around the historical Kalinga region, present-day Odisha, west Bengal, Bangladesh and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh.
Keralas or Udra Keralas are a dynasty mentioned in Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In the Mahabharata, the Keralas rule over a kingdom which took part in the Kurukshetra War on the side of the Pandavas. According to the Puranas, the navigators and survivors of the Yadavas of Dwaraka also settled in Kerala later, resulting in the cult of Krishna worship. And some remnants of the Sinhalas of Sri Lanka and of the Naga culture are also found here.
Nishada is a tribe mentioned in ancient Indian literature. The ancient texts mention several kingdoms ruled by this tribe. In the Mahabharata, the Nishada are described as tribes that have the hills and the forests their abode. They are linked with a king called Vena who became a slave to wrath and malice, and became unrighteous. Brahmanas slew him. Some of Vena's descendants became Nishadas and some others were called Mlechchhas, who resided on the Vindhya mountains (12,58).
Kimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains and had limited interaction with the Vedic civilization of ancient India. Thus they were represented as super human beings or as natural spirits.
In the Mahabharata the Naga Kingdom is the territory of a hardy and warlike tribe called Nagas. They were also considered as one of the supernatural races like the Kinnaras.
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe of mythical creatures called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic tribes of ancient India. They had kinship with another more ferocious tribe, the Rakshasas. The King of Yakshas, Vaisravana and the Rakshasa king, Ravana, were both sons of the sage Vishrava, son of the great Rishi Pulastya from two different wives. Kubera is sometimes mentioned as a Rakshasa king. Kubera ruled a Yaksha kingdom of enormous wealth. Pandavas visited this place during their forest life with the help of the Rakshasa Ghatotkacha and his friends.
Kishkindha is the kingdom of the Vanara King Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. According to the historical account of India, this was the kingdom where Sugriva ruled with the assistance of his friend, Hanuman. This kingdom is identified to be the regions around the Tungabhadra river near Hampi in present-day Vijayanagara district, Karnataka. The mountain near the river known as Rishimukha, where Sugriva lived with Hanuman during his exile, bears the same name.
Dandakaranya is a historical region in India, mentioned in the Ramayana. It is identified with a territory roughly equivalent to the Bastar division in the Chhattisgarh state in the central-east part of India. It covers about 92,200 square kilometres (35,600 sq mi) of land, which includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east, including regions of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha states. It spans about 300 kilometres (200 mi) from north to south and about 500 kilometres (300 mi) from east to west. Dandakaranya roughly translates from Sanskrit to "The Jungle (aranya) of Punishment (dandakas"). The Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts of Maharashtra are part of the ancient region Dandakaranya.
References
- Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli