Ravana was the king of demons and the ruler of Lanka. He had ten heads and twenty arms. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and had been granted many boons by him. Brahma had also granted him a boon by which he could not be killed by any god or demon. However, Ravana forgot to ask for protection from men or animals.

Ravana was blessed with many supernatural powers such as flying and becoming invisible, but this also made him very proud. He misused his powers and the gods felt it was necessary to destroy him. Since only a human could kill Ravana, Lord Vishnu incarnated himself as Rama, prince of Ayodhya. With the help of an army of monkeys, Rama went to Lanka and killed Ravana, symbolising the triumph of good over evil.