In Hindu mythology, the golden city ruled by Ravana is Lanka.
Lanka is the island kingdom that serves as Ravana’s capital in the Ramayana. The epic portrays it as a wealthy, fortified, and magnificent city, often described with golden architecture and extraordinary palaces. Ravana rules Lanka as king of the rakshasas, and the city becomes the center of the conflict after he abducts Sita.
Rama’s campaign against Ravana culminates in the siege and battle for Lanka. The monkey army crosses to the island, and Rama eventually defeats Ravana. After the victory, Rama installs Vibhishana, Ravana’s righteous brother, as Lanka’s ruler in many traditional tellings.
Lanka is sometimes identified directly with modern Sri Lanka, especially in popular retellings, but the relationship is not uniform across all textual and scholarly traditions. The epic’s Lanka is a mythic setting whose geography and identification have been interpreted in different ways over time.