Entering into his lab that day, Ravana was very angry getting news from his guards that Sita had escaped their arms, and Hanuman had found his way to Lanka. He knew that Hanuman had come to his city to save Sita. He had to think quickly and figure out a way to stop Hanuman. Ravana had been working in the lab on trying to find a solution that could instantly freeze. However, he wasn’t fully successful. He was able to make a solution that would instantly freeze any substance that was injected, or introduced with the solution, but after a minute or two it would unfreeze. One of his guards told him he knew a man that used to put some type of herb into his iced drinks that would stop the ice from melting and keep his drinks cold. Ravana immediately ordered his guard to bring this substance to him at once.
The herb had finally arrived and Ravana instantly crushed it into his solution. After the herbs had dissolved, Ravana shouted to the same guard that brought him the herb, “You should have told me about this earlier!"
The guard froze because Ravana tested the solution on him. After a good five minutes, the guard still remained in that state. Ravana was pleased. Now, all he had to do was capture Hanuman and inject him with his solution. Hanuman was in town disguised as a spy. One of the guards had an idea on how to catch Hanuman. They set a trap where they had a fake Sita just sitting by a tree. As Hanuman approached the woman imitating Sita, the guards captured him and brought him back to Ravana.
Ravana injected Hanuman with the solution without giving him any last words. However, when Hanuman was injected he didn't turn into ice. Nothing seemed to happen. Ravana was so confident that his solution would work. Later, he sent out all his guards to go find Sita.
Hanuman had no idea what Ravana had given him, but he knew he had to escape Ravana somehow. Hanuman tried to run and escape the lab, but as soon as he touched the door handle it froze. Confused, Hanuman tried to turn the knob but it broke off. He quickly kicked the door down as it began to freeze and ran out the lab. Still in confusion, Hanuman set out to find Sita. He ran all over town but noticed that as he was searching through shops, stores, and buildings everything was turning into ice, including some people he accidentally bumped into.
He finally found her in the park sitting alone. When Hanuman went up to her, she didn't know who he was, but he explained how Rama, her husband, sent him to save her. Sita was so happy to see Hanuman and went to go give him a hug. Hanuman dodged her and she hit the ground. Confused, Sita asked Hanuman, "Why did you let me fall like that?" Hanuman told her, "I'm sorry Sita, but anything I touch turns to ice. I didn't want to turn you into ice, too." He already turned half the city into ice. Knowing that Ravana was still hunting for Sita, Hanuman told her they had to escape. He tore off a piece of his pants and covered his hand with the cloth. He then said to Sita, "Now you can hold my hand. This cloth will prevent you from making direct contact with my hand, so you won't freeze." By doing this, he would then fly them out of Lanka.
Sita was in disappointment that Rama had not come to save her. She reached to grab Hanuman’s hand and while doing so told him that Rama would find a way to fix everything. Before Hanuman could ask her what she was talking about, she had turned into ice.
As she was reaching out to grab Hanuman’s hand, he didn't notice her undoing the cloth from his hand and she touched him. Hanuman stood there in disbelief. Sita was completely frozen. At that moment, he thought to himself how he failed his mission to bring her back. Not knowing what to do next, he decided to leave Sita and go tell Rama what happened. He only hoped now Rama could find a way to save Sita.
Author’s Note: From the story of The Burning of Lanka, Hanuman was never injected with a solution that would turn everything he touched into ice. In the story, Ravana actually had ordered for his tail to be set on fire after he found out he came for Sita. Then somehow Sita knew of this plan and prayed to the Fire that he would not feel the heat. Hanuman only felt a cooling sensation when his tail was set on fire. This story was twisted to have Hanuman basically do the opposite of the actual story. Sita was also not necessarily in hiding and Hanuman didn't find her in a park. He did, however, find her eventually as he did in the original story and tried to convince her to flee with him. In both stories, Sita only wanted to be saved by Rama. The ending in this story was left with Sita being frozen. I decided to keep the basic story line the same of Hanuman trying to save Sita, but her not wanting to leave with him. I did, however, change the setting to a modern-day setting, some of the locations of the events, and the biggest thing of all, Hanuman being able to freeze everything instead of setting it on fire.
Bibliography: PDE Ramayana- "The Burning of Lanka"
Banner Image: Ravana's lab frozen after Hanuman escaped. Source: Daily Mail