Lanka of the Valmiki Ramayana by Potluri Rao In Seattle ©2018 (CC BY 4.0)

In the epic Ramayana, Lanka (island) was the abode of Ravana the antagonist. In Indian folklore, Lanka was Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The Uttara Ramayana was composed around 500 CE. It promoted Ceylon as Lanka to spread its religion to South India. The Valmiki Ramayana was composed around 400 BCE, a thousand years before the Uttara. It described a Lanka and its surroundings in great detail. It’s description of Lanka had nothing to do with Ceylon.

The Valmiki’s Lanka is a river island in Central India, 20 miles to the north of the Jabalpur city in the Madhya Pradesh State. It is now called Indrana. It is in the flood basin of the Hiran river, a tributary of the Narmada river. The flood basin looks like an ocean.

The ancient Lanka episode of Ravana abducting Sita was composed around 2000 BCE. At that time, the Agni Cult migrated from the Yamuna basin to the Kalinga region, along the north bank of the Narmada river. The migration path was called Janastan.

The Lanka episode was invented as a travel guide to traverse a difficult section of the migration trail. It was a detailed road map of the area, dressed as a story.

Sabari in Pampa, Jatayu’s death, the Rsyamuka hill of Hanuman, the jewels in the Kishkinda, Jatayu’s brother in the Mahendra Giri Dvar, and Ravana in the Lanka were significant events and landmarks (signposts) on the trail.

Both Ravana and Rama used the same trail following the signposts. Ravana used it in both directions. The path of abduction of Sita was a critical segment of the migration trail. It was impossible to locate the trail without the clues in the episode. The path of abduction was the real story.

All migrant Agni people were required to memorize the Lanka episode, for survival on the trail. They traced the abduction path exactly as described in the Lanka episode. They stopped at each signpost and recounted the story. Their survival depended on following the script. Over time, the migration trail was abandoned and the significance of the Lanka episode was lost.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 1 There were at least two versions of the ancient Ramayana story. The North (Banaras) version was the Buddha Ramayana (Jataka 461). The South (Kalinga) version was the Valmiki Ramayana.

Unlike the Valmiki, the Buddha version did not contain the Lanka episode. The Lanka episode was of relevance only to those who traveled on the trail. In the Buddha version, Rama sent his shoes (paduka), Lakshmana, and Sita back to Banaras, escorted by Bharata. It had no Ravana or Lanka episode.

The present day road connecting the Damoh and Majholi cities, near the Jabalpur city, matches the abduction path. It has all the signposts at appropriate locations, exactly as described in the Valmiki. They are still here today. They are easily recognizable on a map. Even the distance measurements between signposts match the Valmiki.

The story of the abduction of Sita might be a fairy tale. The path of the abduction of Sita is real.

Most likely, the abduction of Sita along the trail was grafted to the Buddha Ramayana to make it easy to memorize the vital directions required for migration.

The entire Lanka episode took place on a stage of 20 by 20 miles. It was the Janastan. The Valmiki described the stage in minute detail with precise measurements. They match the present day map with pinpoint accuracy.

The characters Ravana and Hanuman are fiction. They do not exist in the Buddha Ramayana. The Lanka of Ravana and the Rsyamuka hill of Hunaman are real. They are the endpoints of the abduction path. The path connecting the two endpoints is the meat.

Some significant landmarks of the Vindhya mountain range, along the abduction path, and how they were used in the Valmiki are listed below. A map of the area is at the end.

Mahendra Giri Dvar (gorge)

When Ravana abducted Sita he was attacked by Jatayu, a vulture, who recognized Sita. Jatayu’s brother, who was old and immobile, lived in a Mahendra Giri Dvar (gorge). When he learned of Jatayu’s death he told the monkeys searching for Sita that Ravana went through the gorge (4.59.22) on a mule cart with a woman.

The gorge is a part of the Kaimur ridge (Mahendra Giri) and the only place to cross the ridge. The ridge is 500’ high with a 1500’ base, stretching 10 miles to the south and 15 www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 2 miles to the north from the gorge. The Kaimur ridge starts near the Katangi city and goes north hundreds of miles with occasional breaks.

The gorge was barely wide enough for a mule cart to pass. Ravana had to ask for permission to cross the gorge because it was narrow and there were people living in it. There were many witnesses to Ravana passing through the gorge on a mule cart with a woman. They let Ravana pass because they did not want to face the fate of Jatayu.

Trikuta (three peak) Mountain

To the south of the gorge is a steep horseshoe-shaped mountain that rises vertically 1000’ with summit at 2450’. It is the local Mt. Everest and can be spotted miles away from all directions. It has three ridges facing north and one to the south. The three ridges produce the peaks, hence the name.

Foothills to the north of the Trikuta are flat at an elevation of 1400’. This is the area of the path of the abduction of Sita. The mule cart path of Ravana is now a paved road.

When Sugriva escaped from Vali he took refuge on a hilltop at 1800’, where he met Hanuman. The hill was called Rsyamuka or Malaya. Sugriva saw Ravana’s mule cart below, from high above. He did not know that Sita was on the mule cart. Sita dropped her jewels between Rsyamuka and the gorge. Monkeys collected the jewels.

The present day Singhorgarh fort was the Rsyamuka hill of Hanuman. It was the trailhead. Its high peak was a focal point in navigation.

Monkeys searched the area from the Hanuman hill to Jatayu’s gorge. The Valmiki described the area in minute detail with precise measurements. Details of the area were critical for navigation. The gorge was very narrow and hidden. Monkeys lived near the gorge (Kishkinda). They did not know of its existence until Jatayu’s brother told them about it. Finding the gorge without the precise measurements was impossible. It was narrow, dark, and hidden. It was the only place to cross the ridge.

Pampa

On the west side of the Trikuta is a huge Jaber basin with many lakes.

The Jaber basin, or some part of it, was called Pampa. Rama bathed in a lake of Pampa. He met Sabari on the west bank. He described a steep mountain on the east bank where he met Sugriva. www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 3 The lake at the base of Singhorgarh is still here today. Sabari and the lake are signposts.

The Ocean

As seen from the foothills, the Kaimur ridge was a 25 mile long 500’ high wall of rock. People had no idea what was on the other side. No one climbed over it because it had a razor edge. No one knew about the gorge until Jatayu’s brother told them about it. Vultures in the gorge who made a meal of anything passing through let Ravana pass because he killed Jatayu.

Everyone searched for Sita on the west side of the ridge. No one knew the whereabouts of Ravana.

When Hanuman entered the gorge, all he saw on the other side of the ridge was an ocean. There was no trace of Ravana, mule cart tracks, or human habitation. It was just plain water as far as the eye could see. It was the flood basin of the Hiran river, a tributary of the Narmada river.

The flood basin is huge. It feeds both the Narmada (Hiran) and the Ganges (Sone). It is flat as a saucer at an elevation of 1200’. During the rainy season the water level rises more than 50’, reaching as high as 100’ during the peak.

Seasonal variation, topography, and weather patterns were critical factors in navigation. Ravana abducted Sita during the dry season, ankle deep water, so he could take her to Lanka on a mule cart. Rama waited for four months (4.27.48) to let the water level drop before he started to search for Sita. The gorge was closed for all traffic for four months.

The Indrana island (Lanka) on the east side of the ridge had peaks as high as 1800’, the only visible peaks in the ocean (flood basin). The logical conclusion was that it must be where Sita was to be found.

The Lanka on the east side of the ridge was a significant focal point of navigation, a signpost. To people traveling on the migration trail, from east to west, the peaks of the Lanka pointed to the general direction of the hidden gorge.

The Lanka in the ocean with its 1800’ peaks was about ten miles to the south of the hidden gorge. It was a vital focal point to locate the hidden gorge.

How do you make people remember the significance of the Lanka in locating the gorge? www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 4 It was made the home of a fictional Ravana, where Sita was held a prisoner. Ravana abducted Sita on the other side of the ridge. He killed Jatayu in the gorge. The three signposts Ravana, Hanuman, and Jatayu formed a triangle. It was easy to grasp.

The story was crafted to fit the terrain to make it unforgettable. Fictional Ravana, Hanuman, and Jatayu were invented to occupy the three strategic locations. Sita was borrowed as the damsel in distress from the Buddha Ramayana. She was abducted by Ravana, near the Hanuman hill (trailhead). Only the people who traveled on the trail knew of the new twist added to the story.

No one ever lived on the Lanka, it was not habitable. No one ever visited it, it was not accessible. Everyone on the trail saw it from a safe distance. In the poetic imagination, the fictional Ravana lived in luxury on the Lanka.

Trikuta and Suvela Lanka

Indrana was actually two islands connected at their bases. Rishi Valmiki assigned the one on the Trikuta mountain side to Ravana, called Trikuta Lanka. He assigned the other to Rama, called Suvela Lanka.

Rama and his army of monkeys landed on Suvela. They were so close that the monkeys raided orchards in Trikuta for food.

The connecting base between Suvela and Trikuta was the battleground.

Travelers on the trail imagined Rama and Ravana fighting on the connecting base. Suvela, the landing area of the monkeys, was clearly visible. It was a signpost on the trail. One could visualize the entire episode unfolding on a live stage. It made everyone believe that the story was true because the stage was convincing.

On the map, the distance between the Lanka and the gorge is 12 miles. The Valmiki called it 100 Yojana, which yields 210 yards to a Yojana. According to the Arthashastra, a contemporary of Rishi Valmiki, 0.7 inch = angula, 108 angula = Dhanush, and 100 Dhanush (Dhanush Sata) = 210 yards. The Valmiki used Dhanush Sata (4.11.72) and Yojana interchangeably, depending on metrical needs. The Dhanush Sata of the Arthashastra is the same as that of the Valmiki. This is consistent with our observation. On the map, all the distances expressed in Yojana are consistently 210 yards. A furlong (eighth of a mile) is 220 yards.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 5 Apparently, Rishi Valmiki was a native and knew the geography intimately. He gave precise locations of lakes, rivers, caves, and clefts. They are easily identifiable on the map.

The Narmada River

The Valmiki mentioned casually that the Narmada river is nearby. It was not included in the main story. It was not on the stage. The river of the stage was Hiran. It was called a river without a specific name.

Conclusion

The Indrana of the Hiran flood basin is the Lanka of Ravana in every detail. The story was a fairy tale, but the Lanka was real. It was as real as Rsyamuka, Trikuta, Mahendra Giri Dvar, and the flood basin. The Rsyamuka on the west side and the Lanka on the east side of the ridge were critical focal points to locate the hidden gorge.

Retention of directions from the focal points to the hidden gorge was the goal. The story was skillfully crafted to suit the terrain to make it unforgettable. People on the trail lived through the story with hands-on experience. It was born of necessity.

The hidden gorge was the gateway to the Kalinga settlements. The abduction path was a critical part of the trail to cross the 25 mile ridge blocking their path.

Ravana’s abduction of Sita was a fairy tale. The Lanka was never habitable. The Lanka was the means and safe passage on the trail was the end goal.

After the end of the Gupta empire (500 CE) there was the Hindu revival. Hindus wanted to start fresh with a brand new God. Rama was popular in the Jain and Buddha religions. They had their own versions of the Ramayana.

The original Valmiki was a story of a human Rama. Hindus wanted a God Rama.

The Uttara Ramayana (500 CE) was composed to bestow divinity on Rama as an incarnation of the God Vishnu to qualify him for God status.

Each religion promoted its version of its Ramayana as the true story. Unlike the other Gods, Rama was a Universal God for people of all religions.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 6 Everyone claimed Rama as their own. Rama visited holy places on his journey to Lanka. Religious tourism became more important than rescuing Sita. The Jain Rama visited Jain holy places; the Buddha Rama visited Buddha holy places; the Vishnu Rama visited Vishnu holy places; and the Shiva Rama visited Shiva holy places. They all agreed on one thing, Lanka should be as far away as possible to cover their holy places. All Ramayanas were rewritten with Ceylon as Lanka.

After 500 CE, the Valmiki Ramayana was revised to conform to the story in the Uttara. As a result, there were many extant versions of the Valmiki with conflicting information.

There is considerable corruption in all extant versions of the Valmiki. Still it is possible to excavate some good archeological material from them.

There are many hypotheses on how the Agni Cult ended up in the Kalinga region on the East Coast. None of them are supported by empirical evidence.

The Lanka of the Valmiki in Central India throws new light on this controversy. It provides us a new empirically verifiable testable hypothesis.

Hypothesis:

The Agni Cult crossed the Vindhya mountain range from the Yamuna basin to the Kalinga region along the north bank of the Narmada river.

The Agni people who migrated were not religious people looking for converts. They were in search of fertile lands to cultivate. Their scouts found the Kalinga region. The Vindhya mountain range was impassable. They searched for ways to cross the Vindhya range.

The gorge in the Kaimur ridge was the only way to Kalinga. The gorge was narrow and hidden. Locating the gorge from both directions was essential. The Lanka episode was grafted to an existing folk tale of a Rama. It was the navigation guide. Everyone traveling through the gorge was required to memorize it. It was declared a sacred text. Any change to the script would have resulted in certain death on the trail.

Rishi Valmiki (400 BCE) dramatized the story of 2000 BCE by incorporating cultural values prevalent at his time to make it popular. He retained the core of the story intact.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 7 The trail continued along the north bank of the flood basin, to reach the Mahanadi river basin. Kui-speaking people lived in the Mahanadi area, the present day Orissa (Odisha) state. The fictional Ravana was a Kui king. Rakshasa were Kui people.

Kalinga (Godavari delta) has a high concentration of the Agni people, suggesting long tenure of Agni settlements.

Use of the Prakrit language in Orissa and Sanskrit in Kalinga suggests two waves of Agni migration, one of pioneers (Prakrit) and the other of gentry (Sanskrit). Oriya is a hybrid of Kui and Prakrit. Andhra is a hybrid of Telugu and Sanskrit. Orissa was occupied before Kalinga.

The Agni were after the fertile lands of Kalinga. They were not missionaries. They expanded by exporting Agni people from the Yamuna basin along the trail. They did not mix with locals. The trail was abandoned after a critical mass was reached in Kalinga.

The two endpoints of the Agni trail were Damoh in Janastan and Amarkantak in Mahanadi. Amarkantak was a settlement and a transit point.

The hypothesis does not seem tenable. There is a 25 mile-long ridge blocking the path.

The Valmiki talks of a hidden gorge through a ridge used by Ravana. It does not specify its location, not even a hint. It is somewhere in the Vindhya range. Archeologists have been searching for it for a long time. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

A detailed map of the Kaimur ridge in the relevant area of our hypothesis confirms that it has a gorge. It is narrow and hidden.

Is Kaimur gorge the same as the one used by Ravana?

The Valmiki listed precise locations of nearby drinking water. It warned not to drink flood basin water. It told not to go south along the ridge. It gave precise time estimates of travel by mule cart between locations. It emphasized that the gorge was barely wide enough for a mule cart. It had Rsyamuka and Lanka exactly where they should be, relative to the gorge. It had both Suvela of Rama and Trikuta of Ravana. The Valmiki was not just a story. It was a cartographic map of the Vindhya range near the gorge. There must be a logical explanation for such accurate description of the mountain range.

The Kaimur gorge was the gorge used by Ravana. It anchors the Valmiki to a location.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 8 The original Valmiki was Cultural Anthropology of the tribes who lived around the gorge. It was authentic social history and geography. It was misinterpreted by people who were ignorant of logic. It was buried under layers of corruption heaped on it.

Using scientific tools, we can excavate parts of the original Valmiki. It is our Exhibit A.

In the Strict Scientific Method, Knowledge (Brahman) is the intersection of Achit (fact) and Chit (Mind). Achit is verifiable facts of Perception class. The Agni people in the Yamuna basin, Janastan, Jaber basin, Rsyamuka, Trikuta, Mahendra gorge, flood basin, Lanka, Kui people in Mahanadi, Prakrit in Orissa, Sanskrit in Godavari, and Agni settlements in Kalinga are verifiable facts. They are consistent with the hypothesis.

The difficult part of the Agni trail over the Vindhya was from Damoh (23.8 N, 79.4 E) to Amarkantak (22.6 N, 82 E) via Mahendra Gorge (23.5 N, 79.8 E), a total of 200 miles of mountain terrain. Damoh (Janastan) and Amarkantak (Mahanadi) were the base camps with settlements. The Lanka episode was a 20 by 20 mile stage around the gorge. From Chitrakoota to Hirakud was 500 miles. From Hirakud to Kalinga was a cakewalk. The Agni were in search of fertile lands to cultivate.

Hypothesis:

The Agni Cult was split into two around 2000 BCE.

Evidence of the Mahendra Gorge, the Rsyamuka, and the Lanka in the same location supports the hypothesis that there were two separate migration paths of the Agni Cult: (1) from West Indus to the Ganges river (Kashmir, Kanjakubja, Mithila, Banaras) in the north, and (2) from the Yamuna basin along the north bank of the Narmada to Kalinga in the east. The split took place around 2000 BCE. These two branches were disconnected by unfavorable terrain and evolved into two distinct species adapting to their respective natural habitats.

Kalinga was the old orthodox. Mithila was the new liberal. The Kalinga Agni came from the Yamuna basin along the migration trail, not from the Ganges.

Communication between Kalinga and Mithila (Pataliputra) was established only after Ashoka (250 BCE) annexed Kalinga.

The Law Books Gautama Sutra of Mithila and Apasthamba Sutra of Kalinga do not agree. Apasthamba reflects Kalinga traditions. Gautama was unaware of them.

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 9 Black Yajur Veda (old) of Kalinga and White Yajur Veda (new) of Mithila were different. Only the White Yajur Veda had the exotic and expensive Yajna. Yajna was practiced only in the North, near Kanjakubja the place of the Mahabharata War.

The extant Rig Veda was a Kalinga version. Kshatriya existed only in the North. The word Kshatriya is missing in the Rig Veda.

Varna of four classes existed only in the North. Kalinga had only Agni and non-Agni.

In the Rig Veda, Dasyu were the Kui people expelled from the Mahanadi area to make room for Agni. The Kui people were pushed westwards (7.6.3) to die on mountains (8.59.11) and their property was given to Agni (1.176.4).

Indra was a military rank, not the name of a person. One or two high paid Indra traveled with Agni along the trail to provide protection. They were on Agni payroll.

North Agni earned their living by offering services of dubious merit to gullible Kshatriya. Kalinga Agni tilled the soil. They paid Indra for protection. The hardship of the trail, remote settlements, and a hostile climate made Kalinga Agni distinct. They were self-selected to endure hard work.

The Valmiki was Kalinga. The Uttara was North. They reflected different value systems. Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita did not exhibit the same righteousness in the Uttara as they did in the Valmiki. Kalinga Sita was educated, independent, outspoken, commanding, and demanded equal rights. Mithila Sita was an obedient housewife.

The Valmiki was all about tribes near the Kaimur gorge, Janastan. The Uttara was ignorant of Janastan.

The Agni people of Kalinga were not the same as that of the North.

Reading material Home

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 10 General area of the Vindhya mountain range

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 11 Route of Ravana’s abduction of Sita on a Mule Cart

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 12 Kaimur Ridge and Mahendra Giri Dvar (gorge) Topography

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 13 Indrana Hill Topography

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 14 Trikuta Mountain Topography

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 15 Agni trail (2000 BCE) from Janastan to Mahanadi (Kalinga)

www.RaoInSeattle.com Lanka.pdf page 16