Jatayu Story: Ramayana's Jatayu and Sampati
Ramakrishnan S · 5 November 2026 · 17 min read
Updated: 5 November 2026
Quick answer: Jatayu is a huge bird in the Ramayana, a friend of King Dasharatha, who fights Ravana to save Sita and dies of his wounds after telling Rama that Ravana took her south. His elder brother Sampati lost his wings to the Sun while shielding him, and later told the vanara (monkey) search party where Ravana's city lay.
Contents
Key facts
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is Jatayu? | A huge bird who fights Ravana to save Sita and dies of his wounds after telling Rama what happened | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 50 to 51, 67 to 68 |
| Who are Jatayu's parents and brother? | Born of Aruna, the Sun's charioteer, and Shyeni; his elder brother is Sampati | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 14, verse 33 |
| How did Jatayu meet Rama? | In the forest on the way to Panchavati, telling Rama he was his father's friend | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 14, verses 1 to 4 |
| What did Jatayu do to Ravana? | Wrecked his bows, armour and chariot, and ripped off ten of his left arms with his beak, but they grew back at once | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 51, verses 10 to 39 |
| How was Jatayu defeated? | Ravana hewed off his wings, sides and feet with a sword | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 51, verse 42 |
| What were Jatayu's last words? | That Ravana is the son of Vishravasa and the brother of Kubera | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 68, verse 16 |
| Who performed Jatayu's funeral? | Rama, who cremated him as he would a relative | Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda 68, verses 27 to 31 |
| Why did Sampati lose his wings? | The Sun burnt them when he covered Jatayu with them during a flight toward the Sun | Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda 58, verses 4 to 7 |
| What did Sampati tell the vanaras? | That Ravana's city Lanka is a hundred yojanas away, and that he could see Ravana and Sita | Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda 58, verses 19 to 32 |
| Do Sampati's wings grow back? | In chapter 63, which the translator notes may be a later addition, Sampati's wings grow back before the vanaras' eyes as he speaks to them | Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda 63, verses 8b to 9a |
| Where do local traditions place Jatayu? | Chadayamangalam (Kerala), Lepakshi (Andhra Pradesh), and Thiruputkuli and other temples in Tamil Nadu: traditions, not Valmiki | Wikipedia: Jatayu; Wikipedia: Vaitheeswaran Koil |
Who was Jatayu in the Ramayana?
Jatayu is a huge bird in the Ramayana who fights Ravana, the king of Lanka, to save Sita, and dies of his wounds after telling Rama what happened. Sita is Rama's wife. Ravana is a rakshasa, the Sanskrit word for a demon, and the translation calls him the lord of demons.
Jatayu tells Rama who he is in the Aranya Kanda, the third book of Valmiki's Ramayana, chapter 14, verse 33. He says he was born of Aruna, "the charioteer of Sun", that his elder brother is Sampati, and that he is "Jatayu, the son of Shyenii". He also says he was a friend of Rama's father (verse 3).
What kind of bird? The translation we read calls him an "eagle" and, when Rama first meets him, a "mammoth eagle" (14.1). Wikipedia says he has the form of a vulture and gives his title in the Aranya Kanda as "King of Vultures".
How did Jatayu meet Rama?
Jatayu meets Rama and his brother Lakshmana in the forest while they are on their way to Panchavati, and tells Rama he is his father's friend. The meeting is in Aranya Kanda, chapter 14.
Rama and Lakshmana at first take the bird for a demon, "presuming it to be a demon" (verse 2). The bird speaks gently and says, "oh boy Rama know me as your father's friend" (verse 3). Rama honours him as his father's friend and asks for his name and his family (verse 4).
After an account of the "overall genesis of all beings" (verses 5 to 32), Jatayu offers to look after Sita when Rama and Lakshmana go out, because this impassable forest is "a beloved one to predators and demons" (verse 34). Rama hugs him gladly (verse 35), and the four of them, Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Jatayu, go on to Panchavati (verse 36).
Read free: Kadarpaalam. Rama's vanaras build the bridge to Lanka, and the envy of one hard-working vanara halts the work. Read Episode 1 free →
Why did Jatayu fight Ravana?
Jatayu fights Ravana because he sees Ravana carrying Sita away and tells him to give her up. The scene is in Aranya Kanda, chapter 50.
Jatayu is "slumbering" when he hears Sita's voice; he looks and sees Ravana and Sita (verse 1). He speaks from a tree (verse 2). He tells Ravana, "Instantly deliver up Vaidehi" (verse 16). Vaidehi is another name for Sita, the princess of Videha.
He warns Ravana that Rama will kill him "in the same way as Khara sprawled earlier" (verse 23). Khara had already fallen earlier in the story. He also says: "When I am alive you cannot lead away this auspicious, lotus-leave-eyed Seetha" (verse 26). In verse 20 he says that "sixty thousand years have elapsed since I was born", so the text presents him as very old.
How did Jatayu fight Ravana?
Jatayu fights Ravana in the sky with his feet, claws, wings and beak, and Ravana ends the fight by cutting off his wings, sides and feet with a sword. This is Aranya Kanda, chapter 51.
First round: Ravana, angry, dashes at him (verse 1). Jatayu gashes Ravana's body with his feet (verse 6).
Bow, armour, chariot: Jatayu shatters Ravana's bow with his feet, and then a second bow with both feet (verses 10 and 13), blasts off his armour (verse 14) and splinters his chariot (verse 16). He pecks off the head of Ravana's charioteer (verse 18).
Ravana jumps to earth with Sita (verse 19). The translation says Jatayu was then "fatigued owing to his senescence", meaning old age, and Ravana rose into the sky again with Sita (verse 21).
Jatayu attacks again: he has only his claws, wings and beak (verse 35). He rips off ten of Ravana's left arms with his beak (verse 38), but new arms spring up at once, which the translation says "instantaneously ricocheted from his body like snakes" (verse 39).
The end of the fight: Ravana throws Sita off and fights him with fists and feet (verse 40), then hews off Jatayu's wings, sides and feet with a sword (verse 42). Jatayu falls to the ground (verse 43), and Sita runs to him and hugs him (verses 44 and 46).
How does the Jatayu story end?
Jatayu dies in Aranya Kanda, chapter 68, after telling Rama that Ravana took Sita south, and Rama burns his body as he would a relative's. Rama and Lakshmana find him while searching for Sita.
In chapter 67 Rama sees the bloodstained bird and at first thinks it has eaten Sita: "This one has gluttonised Seetha", he tells Lakshmana (verses 10 to 11). He readies an arrow (verse 13). Jatayu, bringing up frothy blood (verse 14), tells him: "Ravana stole that lady and my lives, too" (verse 15), and shows the broken bow and armour (verse 18). Rama weeps over him (verse 22).
In chapter 68 Rama asks him to say more. Jatayu says Ravana used illusions such as a windstorm and cloud-cover (verse 9). He "hacked both my wings when I was overtired, and went southward" (verse 10). He tells Rama he will be with Sita again after killing Ravana in war (verse 14). His last words are that Ravana is the son of Vishravasa and "the brother of Kubera", and then he dies (verse 16).
Rama says that this bird is as venerable to him as his father Dasharatha: "likewise this lord of birds is also a venerable and honourable one to me" (verse 26). He cremates him, as the text puts it, "as he would do in respect of his own deceased relative" (verse 31), chants Vedic hymns used at such funerals (verse 34), and he and Lakshmana bathe in the river Godavari and make water offerings (verse 36). The text says Jatayu went to the heavenly realms (verse 37).
Who was Sampati?
Sampati is Jatayu's elder brother, a bird with burnt wings who lives on the Vindhya mountains, where he comes upon the monkey search party. Jatayu names him in Aranya Kanda 14.33; he appears in person in the Kishkindha Kanda, the fourth book, chapters 56 to 63.
The vanaras, the monkey people sent by their king Sugriva to search for Sita, have sat down to fast to death. Their crown prince Angada later tells Sampati why: the month Sugriva gave them has run out (57.17), and "for fear of fury from our king Sugreeva we sat down for fast-unto-death" (57.18). Sampati comes out of a cave in the Vindhya mountains and sees them (56.3). He says he will eat them "killing one by one and eating one by one" (56.5); the translator notes that some read the verse as eating each monkey as and when it falls dead.
That changes when he hears Jatayu's name. He asks who it is that announces that Jatayu, "the more precious brother of mine than my own lives", is slain (56.19), and wonders how there was "a combat occasioned between that eagle and a demon in Janasthaana" (56.20). Janasthana is a forest region in the epic (Aranya Kanda 67.4). Sampati calls Jatayu his "younger brother" (58.2).
Why did Sampati lose his wings?
Sampati lost his wings because he covered his brother Jatayu with them during a flight toward the Sun, and the Sun burnt them. Sampati tells the story himself in Kishkindha Kanda, chapters 58 and 61.
In chapter 58 he says the two brothers "sportively desiring to surpass each other flew sunward" (verse 4). Chapter 61, one of the chapters the translator flags as possibly added later, gives the stake: before sages on the peak of Mount Kailash, "we have staked a stake" to follow the Sun to the western mountain (verse 4). At noon Jatayu began to founder (58.5). Sampati says he started to cover his brother "with both of my wings" (58.6), and "I have hidden Jataayu in sky with both my wings from the scorching Sun" (61.15).
His wings were burnt and he fell on Mount Vindhya (58.7). He supposed Jatayu had fallen in Janasthana (61.16). Sampati says he could pay no attention to what became of his brother (58.7), and when he hears Jatayu's name from the vanaras it is "after a long time" (56.20).
How did Sampati help find Sita?
Sampati told the vanaras that Ravana rules Lanka, a city on an island a hundred yojanas away, and that he could see Ravana and Sita. A yojana is an old Indian measure of distance. The story is in Kishkindha Kanda, chapters 58 to 63.
Sampati says Ravana "presides over the city named Lanka" (58.19), on an island "a hundred yojana-s" away (58.20). He says: "Staying here I am clearly seeing Ravana and like that Janaki" (58.31), because eagles can see to the end of a hundred yojanas (58.32). Janaki is another name for Sita. In chapter 58 Sampati says he himself saw a "youngish lady" being stolen away by Ravana, calling out "Rama" and "Lakshmana", and he deems her to be Sita (58.15 to 18).
Chapter 59 tells it differently: there his son Supaarshva is the eyewitness, who saw someone dark "like a shoved heap of mascara" carrying off "a lady who equals the aurora in her shine" (59.14).
One caution: the valmikiramayan.net translator notes that chapters 59 to 63 are missing from various manuscripts and have some contradictory statements, so they "are said to be interpolated", that is, added later. The translator adds that they are still kept because most ancient commentators wrote elaborate commentaries on them, and so they are "held valid". Supaarshva, the sage Nishakara, the stake on Mount Kailash and the regrowth of Sampati's wings all come from these chapters.
Sampati asks the vanaras to take him to the ocean so he can offer water for Jatayu (58.35). They carry him there and back, and with his directions they return to their search (58.36 to 37). The sage Nishakara had told him that "you will regain both of your wings" (62.12), and as he speaks to the vanaras, his wings grow back before their eyes (63.8b to 9a). Chapter 63 ends with the vanaras setting out to the south (63.15).
Where did the vanaras go after meeting Sampati?
Sampati's news sends the vanaras south, back to their search for Sita, with word of Ravana and Lanka (Kishkindha Kanda 58.36 to 37 and 63.15). The Siva Comics series Kadarpaalam is set after Rama learns that Sita is held in Lanka, when he orders a bridge built across the sea, and tells an untold episode from that bridge. Kadarpaalam (கடற்பாலம்) was created by B. Sivakumar.
Neither bird appears on the series page; the link between the two stories is ours. Read Episode 1 of Kadarpaalam free.
Where is Jatayu remembered today?
Wikipedia's Jatayu article names four places linked to Jatayu: Chadayamangalam in Kerala, Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh, and Thiruputkuli and Thirupullabhoothangudi in Tamil Nadu. These are local traditions, and the Valmiki chapters we read name none of them. In the chapters we read, Rama finds the wounded Jatayu while searching Janasthana (Aranya Kanda 67.4 to 10), and he and Lakshmana make their water offerings at the Godavari (Aranya Kanda 68.36).
Wikipedia reports that, by local lore in Kerala, Jatayu fell on the rocks at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, and that the town's name is said to come from "Jatayu-mangalam". A park there has a statue Wikipedia says is "credited as the world's largest bird sculpture". Wikipedia says Lepakshi is also named as the place where Jatayu fell, and that its name is said to come from Rama telling the bird to rise with the words "Le Pakshi", which in Telugu means "Get up, Bird".
How is Jatayu remembered in Tamil Nadu?
In Tamil Nadu, Wikipedia links Jatayu to three temples: Thiruputkuli and Thirupullabhoothangudi, both claimed as the place of his last rites, and Vaitheeswaran Koil, where Jatayu is believed to have worshipped Shiva. None of these traditions is in the Valmiki chapters we read. Vaitheeswaran Koil is in Mayiladuthurai district.
Wikipedia says the presiding deity of the Vijayaraghava Perumal temple at Thiruputkuli, Tamil Nadu, a form of Rama, is believed to have performed Jatayu's last rites there. The water body there, where Jatayu is said to have fallen, is called "Jatayu Tirtham". Wikipedia adds that the Thirupullabhoothangudi temple is also claimed as the place of his last rites. Aranya Kanda chapter 68, on valmikiramayan.net, names no temple in its verses.
At Vaitheeswaran Koil, Wikipedia says the temple has a pond called "Jatayu kundam", and that Jatayu is believed to have worshipped Shiva there. By popular legend, it adds, "Pul" (Jatayu) is one of those who worshipped at the place, and so it came to be known as "Pullirukavelur". Wikipedia's page on the temple also lists stone sculptures of Jatayu and Sampati among its images.
Common questions
Who is Jatayu in the Ramayana?
Jatayu is a huge bird in the Ramayana, a friend of King Dasharatha, who fights Ravana to save Sita. He is beaten, and dies after telling Rama that Ravana took Sita south.
Who is Sampati in the Ramayana?
Sampati is Jatayu's elder brother. His wings were burnt by the Sun, and in the Kishkindha Kanda he tells the vanara search party where Ravana's city Lanka is.
Are Jatayu and Sampati brothers?
Jatayu and Sampati are brothers. In Aranya Kanda 14.33 Jatayu says Sampati is his elder brother, and in Kishkindha Kanda 58.2 Sampati calls Jatayu his younger brother.
Was Jatayu an eagle or a vulture?
Both words are used. The Sanskrit word in the Valmiki verses is gṛdhra (gR^idhram in the word-gloss of Aranya Kanda 14.1), which the valmikiramayan.net translation renders as eagle. Wikipedia gives his title as King of Vultures (gṛdhrarāja) and describes him as having the form of a vulture.
How did Jatayu fight Ravana?
Jatayu fought Ravana with his feet, claws, wings and beak. He broke Ravana's bows, armour and chariot, until Ravana cut off his wings with a sword.
How did Jatayu die?
Jatayu died after Ravana cut off his wings, sides and feet. Before he died he told Rama that Ravana had gone south with Sita, and Rama cremated him as he would a relative.
Why did Sampati lose his wings?
Sampati lost his wings when the Sun burnt them as he covered Jatayu with them during a flight toward the Sun that the two brothers made to outdo each other.
How did Sampati help Rama?
Sampati told the vanara search party that Ravana ruled Lanka, a city on an island a hundred yojanas away, and that he could see Ravana and Sita.
Where did Jatayu fall?
Valmiki's Ramayana, in the valmikiramayan.net translation, has Rama find the wounded Jatayu while searching Janasthana (Aranya Kanda 67.4 to 10) and names no town. According to Wikipedia, local traditions name Chadayamangalam in Kerala, Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh and the Jatayu Tirtham at Thiruputkuli in Tamil Nadu.
Is there a Siva Comics story set after Jatayu and Sampati?
Kadarpaalam. Its series page does not name Jatayu or Sampati. It tells an untold episode from the building of Rama's bridge, set after Rama learns that Sita is held in Lanka: Rama marveled at a little squirrel toiling on the bridge and stroked its back, and the envy this stirred in one hard-laboring vanara brought the work to a halt. Episode 1 is free to read.
In the comic
Kadarpaalam tells an untold episode: Rama marveled at a little squirrel toiling on the bridge and stroked its back, and the envy this stirred in one hard-laboring vanara brought the work to a halt. Read Kadarpaalam, Episode 1 →
Sources
Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 14, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Jatayu meets Rama; his parents and his brother Sampati; his offer to guard Sita
Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 50, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Jatayu wakes, speaks to Ravana and says he has lived sixty thousand years
Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 51, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): the fight between Jatayu and Ravana and Jatayu's fall
Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 67, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Rama finds Jatayu and first thinks he has eaten Sita; Jatayu's first words
Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 68, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Jatayu's last words and death; Rama's funeral rites for him
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 56, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Sampati meets the vanaras and hears of Jatayu's death
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 57, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): the vanaras' fast and Angada's account
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 58, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): the flight toward the Sun, Sampati's burnt wings, Lanka and the sighting of Ravana
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 59, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Sampati's son Supaarshva and what he saw
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 60, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Sampati's water offering for Jatayu and the sage Nishakara
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 61, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): the stake on Mount Kailash and Sampati shielding Jatayu
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 62, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): the sage's promise that Sampati will regain his wings
Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 63, valmikiramayan.net (Sanskrit text with English translation): Sampati's wings grow back and the vanaras set out south
Jatayu, Wikipedia: the vulture form, the title King of Vultures, and the traditions of Chadayamangalam, Lepakshi, Thiruputkuli and Thirupullabhoothangudi
Vaitheeswaran Koil, Wikipedia: the Jatayu pond and the popular legend of the name Pullirukavelur
Kadarpaalam, sivacomics.com: the comic's story and creator, read 19 October 2026
Cite this page: Ramakrishnan S. "Jatayu Story: Ramayana's Jatayu and Sampati." Siva Comics, 5 November 2026. https://www.sivacomics.com/insider/jatayu
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Read the comics
Kadarpaalam
Having learned that Sita was held in Lanka, Rama planned his march and, with the vanara army's help, ordered a bridge built across the sea. He marveled at a little squirrel toiling on the bridge and stroked its back in acknowledgement — and the envy this stirred in one hard-laboring vanara brought the work to a halt. That untold episode is Kadarpaalam.
Kabadapuram
When the doors of the Kumari Amman temple are sealed shut, a man trapped inside escapes with the help of a talking severed head. Crossing the dried-up sea, he is stunned by unbelievable wonders and reaches Kabadapuram — the city the ocean once swallowed. There he witnesses the strange feats of a siddha and sees a man who looks just like himself. On the shore of Kabadapuram, crumbling under tidal waves and volcanic eruptions, that double flees with the woman he loves. Did those who escaped survive — or were they caught in the deluge?