is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 legend, the Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

; who is the great king of Lanka

Lanka

Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...

. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

's wife Sita

SITA

SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...

, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana

Lakshmana

Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana...

 for having cut off the nose of his sister Surpanakha

Surpanakha

Surpanakha or Shurpanakha is one of the most important characters in the Ramayana. Indeed, Valmiki comes close to claiming that if there had been no Kaikeyi and no Surpanakha, then there would have been no Ramayana and no war with Ravana...

.

This depiction is, however, open to other interpretations. Ravana is described as a devout follower of Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

, a great scholar, a capable ruler and a maestro of the Veena

Veena

Veena may refer to one of several Indian plucked instruments:With frets*Rudra veena, plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music*Saraswati veena, plucked string instrument used in Carnatic musicFretless...

.