Vijayadashami Festival: the giant effigy of Ravana is being prepared in the town.
Vijayadashami Festival: The whole city is ready to celebrate the festival of Vijayadasham, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. For which the effigies of Ravana are made in Nagpur. Like every year this year, 11 giant effigies of Ravana have been prepared. Besides these, the effigies of Kumbhakarna and Meghnad have also been made. According to the details, their orders are two to three months in advance. Only the Binwar family is doing this job in the city. The effigies of Ravana are 10 feet to 60 feet high. All parts of the body are made separately and are then collected.
Bamboo, paper, wood, rope, cloth, dyes, clay, etc. are used for their construction. Their value is made on the basis of the feet.
Picture Courtesy: Chandrakan Paddhane
Vijayadashami Festival Let me tell you there’s a fight in this city of experienced staff for this work, they’re not getting fast. New people need to learn everything from constructing bamboo structures to pasting paper. Like every year, the work of making effigies is going on at the Sanatan Dharm Sabha Hall in Kadbi Chowk.
Vijayadashami Festival The history of making Ravan is historic. It started 41 years ago. Dhyan Singh Thakur, professor at Kanpur, came to Nagpur in 1949 after partitioning India-Pakistan. He saw that Dussehra, the important festival of Sanatan Dharma, was celebrated here, but Ravana was not burned here. At that moment, Ravana’s combustion happened only in Delhi and North India. Here, Thakur has conceptualized Ravana Dahan. The Punjab Seva Samiti had shown plans for Ravan Dahan, but the biggest problem at that time was where to take the effigy of Ravana.
Later Hemraj Singh Binwar, who specializes in the creation of paper and bamboo artwork, was approached.
