It’s Dussehra time and the country is talking about the Hindu epic Ramayana and places that are associated with it.
The festival is also the time when people loved to travel to these places to retrace the steps of Rama and Sita. When we talk about Ramayana, we can’t help but include Ravana, the main antagonist of the epic.
The tenth and the final day of the Navratri is Dussehra, the day when good won over evil, and is symbolised by Rama killing Ravana in a battle. But did you stop to think, what happened to Ravana after his death? What happened to his body?
As per legends, Rama handed over the body of Ravana to Vibhishan, his brother, for the last rites.
Many stories say that after Ravana’s demise, Vibhishan was in a hurry to take over the throne and in a rush to do so, he ignored Ravana’s body and left it behind.
It is believed that the people of Nagakul came and took Ravana’s body to a cave located in the dense forests of Muwara Eliya, approximately 73 km away from the present day city of Ella.
Several researches were conducted by Sri Lanka's International Ramayana Research Center. It is believed that Ravana’s body is still there and in a mummified form at that!
Is this overreaching? We don’t know.
As per reports, the people of Nagakul are guarding the site fiercely. There are reports of people who claim to have seen Ravana’s body that his body is kept in a casket that is 18 ft long and 5 ft wide. It is also said that Ravana’s body has a special coating, which is keeping the body well-preserved even after thousands of years.
This aforementioned cave is said to be located in a place called Ragla, but not a lot can be found on the internet on this particular site.
As per local legends, it is also said that a fierce serpent, along with other animals guard Ravana’s corpse.
This may be the reason why not many dare to go look for this site. But how much of it is really true? Is there really such a site present in Sri Lanka, where Ravana’s body is still lying in a casket?
Several people, especially the people of Nagakul, believe that Ravana’s death was not permanent.
It is believed that Ravana would one day come back to life. Of course, there has been no definite proof to back all these talks of Ravana’s supposedly well-preserved body in a cave. But, it is true that this definitely makes for a great travel story.
Source - Times of India
Disclaimer: No part of this article was changed except for the headline.