What Does Lanka Mean?

Tamil dictionaries and thesauri provide an important clue. The Tamil Ilangai (இலங்கை) is associated with Lanka and can describe a raised tract of land around which water flows. When a portion of land remains above water while a river or other waterbody flows around it, the landmass may be called a Lanka—naturally resembling an island. The Senthan Divakara Nighantu groups three terms together: “Lanka, Turutthi and Arangam” for landforms created by the meandering of a river around a tract of land. The Bingala Nighantu similarly includes Lanka among terms describing raised land surrounded by water. This also offers an interesting geographical explanation for Srirangam. Situated between branches of the Kaveri, Arangam is one of the terms associated with Lanka. The name Lanka is not confined to Tamil. Related usage is also found in Mundari, with meanings associated with landforms surrounded by water. Across Bharat, numerous places called Lanka occur in river systems, lakes and other water-associated landscapes—even for isolated elevated landforms. What Lankas Have Researchers Proposed for Ravana’s Lanka? Several locations have nevertheless been proposed as Ravana’s Lanka: 1. Lankeswari, Sonpur, Odisha Sonpur has been called Paschima Lanka, or “Western Lanka.” Lankeswari is associated with a hill amid the Mahanadi's riverine landscape. But Ravana’s Lanka is consistently associated with the South, and the Āḻvārs refer to it as Thennilankai—Southern Lanka.

2. Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh The mountainous Amarkantak region is the source of the Narmada, Son and Johilla rivers. Its elevated, water-rich geography has attracted some researchers. Yet it does not satisfactorily match Valmiki’s detailed description of Lanka.

3. Indrana, Madhya Pradesh Situated in the Narmada region, Indrana has a small hill and surrounding water. But these features fall far short of the Trikūṭa mountain and magnificent Lanka described in the Rāmāyaṇa.

4. Bhagatrav, Gujarat An ancient coastal/estuarine Harappan settlement near the Kim River, Bhagatrav is now only about 100–150 metres across, with substantial erosion from the river and seawater. Can this small mound reasonably accommodate Trikūṭa Śikhara, rising amid the clouds, and the Lanka described by Valmiki?

5. The Siddhāntic Lanka at the Equator The astronomical Lanka of the Siddhāntas might have been associated with a water-surrounded landform, but it lacks the Trikūṭa mountain and the mountainous route described in the Rāmāyaṇa. Thus, the occurrence of the name Lanka or a mound near a waterway cannot identify a place as Ravana’s Lanka. It must be based on the complete geographical, topographical and directional evidence of the Rāmāyaṇa.

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