Being a mighty king who becomes an adversary of Lord Rama, Ravana is one of the main characters in the Ramayana, one of the two famous Indian national epics. Ravana is a demon-king residing on the island of Lanka. He is not an entirely evil character, as he is honestly devoted to Shiva and a capable ruler and famous for his healing powers. The Ramayana epic, in contrast to the even longer Mahabharata epic, has become very popular outside India, though not in Sri Lanka, though the island of Lanka is the setting of the most important episodes of the story, the location of the decisive battle and Sita's fire ordeal in particular. It is in Southeast Asia, that the narrative became popular, as it inspired the first comprehensive epic poems in Thai and Khmer and Malayan languages. Likewise, the Burmese version known as Yama Zatdaw can be called Myanmar's national epic.

In Hindu iconography, Ravana is usually depicted with 10 heads side by side and often with 20 arms. In those representations of Ravana found at Khmer temples in Cambodia (see above lintel carving of West Gate 3 at Preah Khan in Angkor) the number of heads and arms is not fixed and the heads are partly aranged above each other.

Sri Lanka's Theravada Buddhist tradition played a crucial role in the estavlishment and development of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, particularly as monastic Buddhism had been on the decline in India, before the centres of Buddhist scholarship in the Ganges region finally fell victim to destruction during the Muslim invasions of the late 12th century. It was during this period that the empire of Bagan (Pagan) in Myanmar (Birma) reached is climax under King Chansu II (Sithu II, also known as Narapatisithu). Under his reign the young Buddhist monk Sapada (Chapata)travelled to Sri Lanka in order to study there and to receive a renewed higher ordination to introduce the Sinhalese line of succession in Myanmar. He was from the Mon ethnicitiy, which played a crucial role in transferring the Theravada tradition to the Bagan kingdom. His reform resulted in the establishment of a second order of Theravada Buddhism in Bagan, which became dominant in later centuries. During the 13th century, Sapada's followers, who initially caused only a kind of shism in the Theavada Buddhist culture of Bagan, were even more successfull in missionaries in the Menam region, where the newly established Thai (Siamese) kingdoms were gaining independence from Khmer hegemony. Hence, the Thai adapted the Sinhalese Mahavihara pattern of Theravada Buddhism and made it the official state religion, thereby intentionally turning away from the Hindu religion of the Khmer empire.

However, the Sapada mission and the Thai tradition of Theravada finally succeeded in the Khmer empire, too. According to some reports, one of the companions travelling with Sampada was a son of King Jayavarman VII, who was the first Buddhist king in Cambodia, but an adherent of Mahayanism. After Jayavarman VII's reign during the same period mentioned above, Hinduism had a royal revival in Cambodia inthe second half of the 13th century. But finally Theravada was successfull in Cambodia due to its appeal in rural villages. The Theravada teachings and monsatic line of the Sinhalese sect had been introduced in Cambodia in the course of the 13th century. Unlike Shivaism, Vishnuism, and Mahayana Buddhism, which were imposed from the empire’s elites, the new doctrine was mainly preached to common people. Khmer farmers during the centuries of Hindu and Buddhist state cults had remained to be animistic, sparcely touched by those foreign Indian religions of the Khmer elites. Instead of elaborate court ceremonias, the monks of the Sinhalese tradition prescribed meditation and were devoted to a life of modesty and austerity. Unlike the priestly hierarchy close to the royal family whose political power was in decline, the Theravada monks were in direct contact with ordinary people and managed to stimulate a popular movement. This carried the Khmers, too, into the Theravada fold, until the present day.

Sri Lanka played a crucial role in the development of the Theravada version of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. It has become the predominant religion in Myanmar since the 11th century, where it was reformed in the Sinhalese tradition in the 14th century. In Thailand, conversion to Theravada Buddhism was a means to demonstrate independence from Khmer rule in the 13th century, when the first Thai kingdoms were established. Sri Lankan monks were invited to the then Thai capital, Sukothai. However, the Sri Lankan version of Buddhism, imparted by Thai monks, became prevalent in the Khmer kingdom, too, though slightly later on. Since the 14th century, Theravada has been the national religion of Cambodia. That's the period after the demise of Angkor. During the Angkor period, there had already been some contacts between monks from Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Furthermore, the island of Lanka, as the location of the decisive battle in the sacred Ramayana epic, has become the setting of the most important national Khmer epic, which like in many other literatures of Aoutheast Asia, a version of the said Indian epic. Lanka as a mythical place had already been represented in Khmer art from the Angkor period, most famously at the immensely large carving in the western gallery of Angkor Wat from the mid 12th century. Rama's fight against Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, can also be seen in several lintel carvings from the late 12th cebtury Bayon period, which was mainly Buddhist (Mahayanist, not Theravadic). The photo of such a relief depicting the battle of Lanka is taken from the newly published Preah Khan page, by courtesy of Mr. Sopheak.