The government of Sri Lanka has issued a newspaper advertisement urging people to share documents, books, and research material regarding Ravana, reported News 18. He was the ruler of the country during the era of Lord Rama. The advertisement was issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.
Reportedly, the Sri Lankan government wants to conduct in-depth research on Ravana and the aviation history of the country. Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka is starting a research project on “King Ravana and the ancient domination in the aerial routes that is now lost”. As per the report, the Sri Lankan government is of the belief that Ravana flew over 5000 years ago and was the first aviator in the world. The island nation is now eager to discover the methods used to fly in the ancient period. As a first step in the research, the authority has started collecting documents, books and other historical content related to King Ravana.
Shashi Danatunge, the former vice-chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, informed that the government has ‘irrefutable facts’ to prove that Ravana was the first person to fly an aircraft. “King Ravana was a genius. He was the first person to fly. He was an aviator. This is not mythology; it’s a fact. There needs to be detailed research on this. In the next five years, we will prove this,” he was quoted as saying.
Sri Lankan government dismisses ‘Indian version’
Unlike India where Ravana is viewed as a tyrant, Sri Lanka hails Ravana as a scholar and a kind ruler. They dismiss the fact that he had abducted Maa Sita and label the claim as the ‘Indian version’ of Ravana. Several Indian scriptures refer to the ruler of Sri Lanka as a ‘Maha Brahmana’ or the great Brahmin.
Recently, the island nation launched a satellite to outer space as a part of its first space mission. The satellite was named as ‘Raavana.’ In a conference last year in Katynayake, archeologists, historians, scientists, aviation experts and geologists concluded that the ‘moble king’ flew from Sri Lanka to India 5,000 years ago.
According to Ramayana, Ravana used an aircraft named Pushpak Vimana, and it was built by Vishwakarma. Ravana had used the aircraft while abducting Sita from Bharat to Lanka, according to the epic.