Maharadia Lawana
Maranao · numen · Maranao traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Maharadia Lawana is the demon-king of Pulu Bandiarmasir in the Maranao rendering of the Ramayana, recorded by Juan R. Francisco from Lanao singers. Once a prince cursed for his transgressions with many heads and near-invulnerability, he abducts the princess Tuwan Potre, touching off the war in which the brothers Mangandiri and Mangawarna and the monkey-hero destroy him. He is the Maranao counterpart of Ravana; tellers give him eight or ten heads.
Domains
- abduction
- sorcery
Powers
- resist death through many heads
Epithets
- Maharadia Lawana sa Pulu Bandiarmasir — Great King Lawana of the isle of BandiarmasirFrancisco, 'Maharadia Lawana,' Asian Studies 7 (1969). (primary)
Relations
- enemy: Radia MangandiriAbducts Mangandiri's wife and is destroyed in the war that follows.Francisco, 'Maharadia Lawana,' Asian Studies 7 (1969). (primary)
Sources
- Maharadia Lawana is the many-headed demon-king of the Maranao Ramayana who abducts the heroine and is destroyed by the brothers and the monkey-hero; he is the Maranao reflex of Ravana.: Juan R. Francisco, 'Maharadia Lawana,' Asian Studies 7, no. 2 (1969): 186-249. (primary); Juan R. Francisco, The Ramayana in the Philippines (1969). (secondary)