A rākṣasa (rakshasa, roughly translated as demon) born of Mālī (Mali), the brother of rākṣasa king Rāvaṇa’s (Ravana’s) maternal grandfather Sumālī (Sumali), to the gandharva woman Vasudā (Vasuda). Before the battle of Laṅkā (Lanka), while telling Rāmacandra (Ramachandra) about Laṅkā’s defense structure, Vibhīṣaṇa (Vibhishana) mentioned four of his own ministers; Anala was one of them. Anala, in the guise of a bird, he went to the castle of Laṅkā to gather information about Rāvaṇa’s security system and battle plan—

analaḥ panaścaiva sampātiḥpramatistathā.
gatvā laṅkāṃ mamāmātyāḥ punarihāgatāḥ.