When the Demon King Became the Priest: Ravana's Role in Rama's Durga Puja The Bengali Ramayana composed by Krittibas Ojha presents one of the most fascinating and philosophically profound episodes absent from Valmiki's original text—the story of Ravana serving as the priest for Rama's worship of Durga. This narrative, deeply embedded in Bengali religious consciousness, reveals layers of dharma, destiny, and the ultimate surrender to cosmic will that transcends personal survival. The Divine Dilemma When Rama prepared to wage the final battle against Ravana in Lanka, he sought the blessings of Devi Durga through an elaborate puja. However, a critical question arose: who possessed the knowledge and purity to conduct such a momentous ritual? The worship needed to be performed with absolute precision, for any flaw would render it ineffective. Brahma, the creator deity, provided an answer that seemed impossible—only Ravana himself, the very enemy Rama sought to vanquish, p...