India, April 8 -- Revered in Sri Lanka as a wise and noble king, Ravana's dual identity reflects a broader narrative of cultural divergence, geopolitical entanglement, and historical amnesia between two nations whose fates remain intricately intertwined

Ravan Mandir in Uttar Pradesh, as I observed during my recent visit, a temple claiming to mark the birth place of Ravana, the central character in the Ramayana - remains largely forgotten, drawing little attention from the masses. Situated in an area characterised by extreme poverty and surrounded by the harsh realities of modern Indian inequality - despite India's projected rise as the third-largest global economy by 2030 - the temple's isolation reflects the broader disconnection betwee...