Rannamaari is a Maldivian

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

 myth or legend which chronicles the Maldivian people's conversion from Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

.

Brief outline

According to Ibn Batuta's version of the story, Rannamaari, a sea demon, haunted the people of the Maldives and had to be appeased monthly with the sacrifice of a virgin. On the last day of every month, the king would choose a girl to sacrifice and keep her in an isolated temple for one night. The girl would be found the next day dead.

Blood sacrifices used to be made to the demon.

Common versions

Rannamaari has two main versions, the traditional version and the one told by Ibn Batuta.

According to the Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 traveler Ibn Batuta, who visited the Maldives during his journeys through Asia,