The bridge soon reached halfway to Lanka.

But then, during the night, sea-monsters destroyed the bridge. In the morning, they saw the sea-monsters splashing in the ruins, dragging away the rocks.

"I'll find out who did this!" Hanuman shouted. He dove down into the water. There he found a palace, and inside the palace he found the mermaid Suvannamaccha.

"Ravana asked me to destroy your bridge," she said. "But you are a very handsome monkey. I like you! My creatures will help repair the bridge. Forgive me, please!"

Hanuman smiled at the mermaid.

Later, she would bear his son: Macchanu.

When they finally finished building the bridge, Rama led his army of monkeys and bears on their way to Lanka.

But Ravana was watching! Before Rama and his army could enter Lanka, he shot two massive arrows that destroyed each end of the bridge.

Rama's army could not go forward or backward, and hungry sea-monsters were swarming in the waters around them.

"Help us, Hanuman!" shouted Rama.

The mighty Hanuman leaped to Lanka and then enlarged himself, expanding his tail to span the gap.

Rama's army then marched over Hanuman's tail into Lanka.

Rama had thwarted Ravana's plans once again.

Rama and his army were about to march onto the shore of Lanka when Vibhishana shouted a warning.

"Stop, Rama! Stop!" he yelled. "Do you see that rakshasa coming towards us?"

"Yes!" said Rama. "He's wearing a blindfold. Who is he?"

"That's Bhasmalochana," Vibhishana explained. "His eyes incinerate everything that he gazes at. I brought this just in case!" Vibhishana handed Rama a mirror.

Rama grasped the mirror and pointed it in the direction of Bhasmalochana.

Then, as soon as the rakshasa removed his blindfold, he found himself gazing into the mirror and incinerated himself.

Rama had thwarted Ravana again.

Ravana knew Rama's army was ready to invade Lanka, so he summoned the greatest magician among the rakshasas.

"I want you to conjure up Rama's head," Ravana said, "and I will show it to Sita."

The magician did as Ravana commanded.

Ravana then entered the Ashoka Grove and threw Rama's head at Sita's feet.

"Behold!" Ravana shouted. "Rama, who was your husband, is dead. Now I will be your husband."

Sita fainted, but when she recovered she stared at Ravana coldly.

"Kill me too," she said. "I will join my husband in heaven."

The head vanished.

Ravana's plan had failed.

After Rama and his army marched across the bridge to Lanka, they built camp.

Then Rama sent the monkey Angada to Ravana on a diplomatic mission. "Tell Ravana this: free Sita, and we will depart in peace."

Angada went to the palace, but Ravana ordered his guards to seize Angada and kill him.

Angada broke free and jumped to the roof of Ravana's palace, punching holes in the roof with his fists and stamping with his feet until the roof collapsed.

Angada then leaped back to Rama. "There can be no peace with Ravana," he explained. "There will be war."

Ravana's soldiers carried the usual weapons of war, while Rama's soldiers wielded trees and rocks, fighting with their teeth and claws. The armies clashed day after day, and blood flowed everywhere, the blood of rakshasas mingling with the blood of monkeys and bears.

Ravana's son Indrajit then used his invisibility to penetrate Rama's defenses. He appeared out of nowhere, attacking the princes with his serpent-arrows. "Die!" he shouted. "Die, both of you!"

As they writhed in agony, pinned to the ground by Indrajit's arrows, Indrajit disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

The monkeys and bears all howled in despair.

Indrajit returned to Ravana in triumph, shouting, "I have killed both Rama and Lakshmana!"

Ravana rejoiced and then summoned Trijata, one of the rakshasis who guarded Sita, ordering her to take Sita to see the bodies. "You can use my flying-chariot," he said. "This time it is no trick; she can see for herself that my son has killed her Rama."

Trijata did as Ravana commanded, and when Sita looked down from the sky, she saw both Rama and Lakshmana, pinned to the ground with arrows, lying in a pool of blood. Then Sita burst into tears, her heart broken.

Sobbing, Sita pointed to the bodies of Rama and Lakshmana on the ground. "Look!" she said to Trijata. "There lies my Rama, with his noble brother Lakshmana lying beside him."

But Trijata, who had become Sita's friend and confidant, did not despair. "They must still be alive," she told Sita. "This divine vehicle cannot bear the weight of a widow's grief. If your husband were truly dead, the chariot would plunge to the ground. Rama must still be alive, and his brother too. Take heart! I know the news will reach Lanka soon: Rama lives. The war is not over."

On the battlefield, the monkeys and bears wept over the bodies of the two princes, but Vibhishana said, "The serpent-arrows have only paralyzed them; they are not dead."

Then the eagle-god Garuda, enemy of all serpents everywhere, hurtled down from the sky like lightning. When the serpent-arrows saw Garuda, they fled underground, hissing in terror.

Garuda then bent over the bodies of Rama and Lakshmana, caressing their faces, and the two princes revived. At his touch, their wounds were healed. Even better: Rama and Lakshmana were now stronger than before, imbued with Garuda's powers.

All bowed before Garuda in thanks.

To prepare for war, Rama honored Durga, the warrior-goddess. "I will offer her 108 perfect blue lotuses," Rama said, "one for each of her sacred names."

So Rama gathered the lotuses and began chanting the names, offering one lotus for each name.

But when Rama reached the last name, he realized he had miscounted: he was short one lotus. Without hesitating, Rama took an arrow, ready to extract one of his eyes to offer instead.

At just that moment, the goddess appeared. "Stop!" she said. "Your offering is complete, Lotus-Eyed Rama."

Then the goddess blessed Rama, bestowing victory upon him.