It is true that Ravan was ancient. The rest of the Rakshasa clan must have been old too, though they fought like they were in the prime of their youth. Akshay Kumar was the youngest of Ravan's sons - though I have no idea if he was decades or centuries old.
In Raghuvamsa (by Kalidasa), the scene of Indumati's Swyamvara is described very well. As she passes by each king with a garland in her hand, someone speaks of the king's achievements and prowess. It is mentioned that kings from Southern India had also attended this ceremony. It was mentioned that the Pandya King who had attended the wedding had protected his kingdom and the rest of South India from Ravan and Ravan does not come near Tamil Nadu due to the fear of the Pandyas.
Also come to think of it, I have read that Ravan did try to conquer the Tamil Kingdoms but was thwarted each time and never managed it.
I wonder what all places did Ravan conquer.He is supposed to have conqured heaven and earth but it seems that there were so many places - neighbouring territories that he was never able to defeat.
He did not conquer South India, I know that for sure. not only was he beaten by the kings ruling here but also by Sage Aghasthya in a music contest as well (In the movie Sampoorna Ramayanam, Ravan says that he stopped playing the veena after being defeated by Sage Aghasthya. In the Tamil versions of the Ramayana, Ravan's flag has the veena as the symbol and he is referred to as the one with the veena flag. Veena is a stringed instrument popular in South India.). It was also said that Ravan after this defeat did not dare come near Tamil Nadu again.
hmm.....but in kamban's version, ravana's standard is the veena because he was an undefeated master of the art, but this story of agastya defeating ravana is new to me.
plus, isn't the whole pandya ancestory part of history? its supposed to be credible, right? but, ravana or the whole ramayana for that matter is part of mythology, so how do you work that one out?
-Asha
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