Even though Ravana is a demon due to his act of kidnapping Sita, there are so many positive sides of him which are hardly spoken about.
Lets get familiar with an interesting tale about Ravana that is seldom mentioned.
This was the time when Lord Rama in his pursuit to rescue Sita from Ravana, reached the shores of Ramaeshwaram where he planned to build a bridge that connected to Lanka. The day before the work started, Rama had a vision of God Shiva and decided to perform a special Yagna for his successful victory.
As he was going to fight one of his most powerful rivals Ravana, he needed the most scholarly Brahmin to conduct the Yagna for him. Everyone in Lord Rama’s camp were aware of the fact that the only person who was qualified to perform this Yagna was none other than Ravana. Interestingly, the Yagna could be considered successfully completed only when Rama would sit with his wife Sita in the ritual, who was held captive by Ravana in Lanka.
Lord Rama respectfully raised an invitation to Ravana to conduct the Yagna.
Ravana, a renowned scholar and devout worshiper of God Shiva not only brought Sita to the Yagna, he presided over the proper arrangements and completion of the Yagna.
Once the Yagna was completed, Rama followed the traditional practice and seeked the blessings of Ravana to be victorious in the battle against Ravana himself. For which Ravana responded “Tathastu” (So be it).
Rameshwaram is the holy place where Lord Rama, Ravana and Sita gathered together for the first time. The town acquired its name when Lord Rama worshiped God Shiva (Eshwar) to defeat the demon king Ravana.