the hallmark of this era was the rise of evil in the form of the demon king of sri lanka, ravana. he conquered the three worlds namely, earth, heaven and the netherworld (patala) and terrorized everyone. even the devas were subordinate to him - his son meghanada had earned the title "indrajit" by defeating indra, the king of heaven in battle; and even the sun had to obey the king. in this scenario, lord vishnu incarnated himself as the son of king dasharatha of the suryavamshis or ikshvaku dynasty and was named rama. due to a stepmother's jealousy, rama was sent away to a forest in exile for 14 years, during which time he confronted and killed ravana for kidnapping his wife, and thus restored peace on earth. he is said to have afterwards established rama-rajya or rama's kingdom over the entire earth from his throne at ayodhya for 11,000 years, before eventually returning to his mahavishnu form.