Shurpanakha (Rakshasi)
Shurpanakha ('she whose fingernails are like winnowing fans') is a rakshasi (demoness) in the Hindu epic Ramayana, sister of the Lankan king Ravana and daughter of sage Vishrava and the rakshasi Kaikeshi. Her role in the epic, though small, is pivotal — her encounter with Rama and Lakshmana in the Panchavati forest triggered the chain of events leading to Sita's abduction and the great war of Lanka. According to Valmiki's Ramayana, she was widowed when Ravana killed her husband, the Danava prince Vidyutjihva. While wandering the forests, she encountered the exiled prince Rama and became infatu