Rawana

Glorious, valiant, mighty king,
even if the Himalayas count you an enemy,
with a heart to leave everything and come to you,
Ravana, it is you I hold dear

With a heart set on the warmth in your chest,
fire and coolness together are no wonder to me,
a thing that not a soul, even today, knows,
that matter, you must surely know

I have grown used to the rough bed in a cave,
your two arms once burned me;
I opened my eyes, and yet you were not there,
Ravana, it is you I hold dear

A striking love song addressed to King Ravana, the mighty ruler of Lankan legend, sung in the voice of a woman who loves him utterly. She hails him as glorious, valiant, mighty king, and declares that even if the whole Himalayas counted him an enemy, she has a heart to leave everything and come to him. Her devotion is set against the entire world’s opposition.

The middle is intimate and a little defiant. She longs for the warmth in your chest, and says that to her, fire and coolness together are no contradiction at all, the burning and the peace of loving him coexist. And there is a secret between them, a thing that not a soul knows, which, she tells him, he alone understands.

The close turns to longing and loss. She has grown used to the rough bed in a cave, his two arms once burned me with their embrace, and yet, she says, she opened her eyes and he was not there. The refrain closes it: Ravana, it is you I hold dear. Sung by Muditha Samarasekara to words by Nalinika Lakshani, composed by Tharindu Damsara, it is a bold, romantic song that casts an ancient king as the beloved, a woman’s fierce, secret devotion to a love the whole world would stand against.