LankaKand : Ramayan Chapter 6

As advised by ocean deity, Nal and Nil spearheaded the construction of bridge. Monkey army collected stones, trees and helped enthusiastically. The bridge was ready in no time. Before beginning their epic march towards Lanka, Ram established a Shivalinga (a sacred stone of Lord Shiva) at Rameshwaram and offered his worship.

Ram and Laxman along with the army of monkeys reached Lanka. Ravana was astonished to hear the news of their arrival as he never thought in his wild dreams that monkeys would cross the ocean and come to Lanka. Mandodari once again requested Ravana to surrender Sita to Ram but Ravana remained nonchalant.

Before attacking the enemy, Ram tried to convince Ravana to surrender Sita. Angada, son of Baali, was chosen as an envoy. Angada introduced himself to Ravana and informed about the greatness of Ram. He tried every means to convince Ravana for submission and peaceful way out of crisis but Ravana was adamant on facing war rather than conceding. Angad then threw a challenge to everyone assembled in Ravana's parliament if they could budge his feet, but no one succeeded. Failure made Ravana angry and he started defaming Ram. Angad could not withstand it and hit the ground with his hands causing tremors in earth. Even Ravana's crown fell down to earth. The meeting thus ended fruitlessly.

Plan was discussed to attack Lanka from all the four fronts. The war began and with each passing day countless warriors laid down their lives. Meghanad, displayed magical powers and hit Laxman with an arrow and made him unconscious. Physician, named Sushen asked for Sanjivani, a herb available in Himalayas before next sunrise. Hanuman once again displayed his might and intelligence. When he reached Mount Kailash, he could not identify the herb so decided to carry the whole mountain! With sanjivani, Laxman was cured.

Ravana lost most of his top line warriors, so he decided to take help of his brother Kumbhkarna - a sleeping monolith. At first, Kumbhakarna declined to fight for unjust cause but Ravana made him agree. With his enormous might, Kumbhakarna proved very destructive. At last, Ram cut his head in such a way that it flung far off and fell in front of Ravana.

Meghanad tried his best in the battlefield but could not succeed in defeating or demoralizing the enemy camp. So he opted to perform yagna for gaining extraordinary powers and become invincible. He was however stopped and killed mid-way by Laxman.

Distressed by the loss of his son Meghanad, Ravana was left alone to fight and win the war with Sri Ram. The final battle began between Ram and Ravana. Vibhishan told Ram that the secret of his immortality lie in the source of nectar inside his body. Ram at once attacked Ravana and destroyed his ten heads, twenty hands and the source of nectar. Ravana finally breathed his last.

Vibhishan was crowned as King of Lanka. Ram met Sita after she passed though a fire pyre to prove her chastity. It was time for Ram, Laxman and Sita to return to Ayodhya as the time of exile was about to finish. In beautiful Pushpak Vimana (plane), triumphant Ram, Laxaman Sita and monkey warriors headed towards Ayodhya, where Bharat was waiting impatiently for their return.