Atikaya () is the son of Ravana and his second wife Dhanyamalini in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Legend
The story of Atikaya is explained by
Vibhishana in the
Ramayana. Once while filled with rage, he tried to uproot the Chakravalgiri mountain.
Shiva noticed this and hurled his
trishula at him, but Atikaya was so powerful at that time that he caught the trident mid-air like a toy and started laughing. Shiva was so impressed by the
rakshasa that he taught all the secrets of archery to him. Due to armour of Brahma given to him, Atikaya had to be slain by
Lakshmana by using a
Brahmastra, a powerful weapon of the god
Brahma. The wind-god
Vayu, at the behest of the god
Indra, revealed to Lakshmana the secret that an otherwise invincible armour of Brahma was granted to Atikaya, that could only be pierced by a Brahmastra.
Atikaya and his brother Trishira are believed to be incarnations of the Madhu and Kaitabha, who were slain by Vishnu during the period of the creation of the universe.
