In some versions of the
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...
such as the
Krittivasi Ramayana, Ahiravan, also called Mahiravana, is a
rakshasa
Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma wh ...
(demon) ruler of
Patala. He is variously described as either an ally or a brother of the rakshasa king
Ravana
Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations.
In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...
. In Thai tradition, he is called Maiyarap.
Ahiravan secretly carried away
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...
and his brother
Lakshmana
Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...
to the nether-world, consulted his friends, and decided to sacrifice the life of the two divine brothers at the altar of his chosen deity, goddess
Mahamaya. However,
Hanuman
Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and ...
saved their lives by decapitating Mahiravana, and destroying his army.
Popular culture
The ''Mairavan charitra'' was written in
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
in
Kavya style in the 16th century by Adithya kavi.
The story of Mahiravana was made into a Telugu film in 1940 by Ghantasala Balaramaiah entitled ''
Mahiravana''. The veteran actor
Vemuri Gaggaiah played the role of Mahiravana.
Mahiravana 1940 film at IMDb.
/ref> The legend was also featured in the 2018 animated film '' Hanuman vs Mahiravana'', released in Hindi and Tamil.
See also
* Adbhuta Ramayana
References
{{Commons category, Ahiravan
Rakshasa in the Ramayana