Why didn't Ravana appear in Sri Lanka's Pāli Chronicles? | Bhante Dr. Gangodawila Chandima and Dr. Justin W. Henry

Dear Dhamma Friends,

Stay tuned for Monday evening as we continue with our Dhammapariyesanā series #58.

Please join Bhante Dr. Chandima as he interviews Dr. Justin W. Henry about the possible explanations behind the absence of Ravana, the demon-king antagonist from the Ramayana in Sri Lanka's Pāli chronicles. The discussion will be based on Dr. Henry's upcoming monograph "Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below," which will be released in 2023 by Oxford University Press, New York. 

In Ravana's Kingdom", Dr. Henry has delved into the historical literary reception of the epic in Sri Lanka, charting the adaptions of its themes and characters from the 14th century onwards, as many Sri Lankan Hindus and Buddhists developed a sympathetic impression of Ravana's character, and though the contemporary Ravana revival, which has resulted in the development of an alternative mythological history, depicting Ravana as king of Sri Lanka's indigenous inhabitants, a formative figure of civilizational antiquity, and the direct ancestor of the Sinhala Buddhist people.

Justin Henry is Lecturer in Religious Studies at Georgia College & State University, having earned his PhD in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2017. He has spent over five years living in Sri Lanka and India studying Sinhala, Tamil and Pali, and is particularly interested in points of contact between Buddhist and Hindu literature, historically. His first book, Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below, was released this year by Oxford University Press. He is currently working on a general audience book on the 'many Ramayanas' of the region for trade publication in New Delhi.

See you at 7pm (EST). (4pm PST)

May you be well and happy!
Patisota Team