Janakpurdham Burns Effigies of Demon King Ravana on Dussehra
During my recent visit to Janakpurdham, I was lucky, to get chance to observe burning effigies of Demon King Ravana on Dussehra (10th day of Dashain / Teeka Day). The burning of Ravana effigies takes place as final part of Dussehra. Dussehra is a major festival, where people burn the sculpture of Ravan and it is celebrated in most part of Tarai region of Nepal.
The celebration of Dussehra is rooted in the Indian epic of Ramayana, which tells the story of King Rama leaving his Kingdom to rescue his wife Sita, who had been kidnapped by Sri Lanka’s demon king Ravana. King Rama fights with the demon all of nine days and ten nights. On the tenth day, he kills the demon and rescues his wife. Marking the victory of King Rama over the demon Ravana, Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of the month Ashvin, the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar that overlaps September and October of the Gregorian calendar, every year.
As a part of my evening walk, I was crawling around Janakpur town. In the meantime, I with my brother reached to the bank of Ganga Sagar (one of the big and famous pond in Janakpur having great religious importance) where we saw three big effigies of Ravan nearly 15 meters each. Initially, I was unknown why it was built so, interviewed one of the person standing beside me and then came to know that it was built as a final celebration of Dussehra. There were many high profiles presenting speech about the programme and talking about the hope that they can promise to the residents. I also got chance to meet Bimalendra Nidhi, a former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Home Affairs of Nepal.
After an hour speech ceremony, finally a time came to light the effigies and it was done with great fight music in the background and I found everyone was looking straight forward to the effigies burning. Sculptures were filled with many firecrackers so, it burnt producing loud cracking sound. I too observed it carefully, as it was my first experience and heard many people gossiping about the effigies that this time Ravan is laughing but it is beautifully created and many more. I took many images and burning videos too.
Recently, I had gone through the news that Ravana cry each year when he is burnt because he takes himself as a right and trustworthy. He is right in the sense that he kidnapped Sita because he liked her and trustworthy in the sense that though he kidnapped her, he never did anything against Sita’s will and even promised her that he won’t touch her unless she allows him.
This news got printed somewhere in my heart and affected me. Because of this, I felt a little bit sad seeing the burning effigies of Ravana on the bank of Ganga Sagar in Janakpurdham but most of the people, felt happy thinking their bad times and worries would be uprooted from their town.
The celebration of Dussehra is rooted in the Indian epic of Ramayana, which tells the story of King Rama leaving his Kingdom to rescue his wife Sita, who had been kidnapped by Sri Lanka’s demon king Ravana. King Rama fights with the demon all of nine days and ten nights. On the tenth day, he kills the demon and rescues his wife. Marking the victory of King Rama over the demon Ravana, Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of the month Ashvin, the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar that overlaps September and October of the Gregorian calendar, every year.
As a part of my evening walk, I was crawling around Janakpur town. In the meantime, I with my brother reached to the bank of Ganga Sagar (one of the big and famous pond in Janakpur having great religious importance) where we saw three big effigies of Ravan nearly 15 meters each. Initially, I was unknown why it was built so, interviewed one of the person standing beside me and then came to know that it was built as a final celebration of Dussehra. There were many high profiles presenting speech about the programme and talking about the hope that they can promise to the residents. I also got chance to meet Bimalendra Nidhi, a former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Home Affairs of Nepal.
After an hour speech ceremony, finally a time came to light the effigies and it was done with great fight music in the background and I found everyone was looking straight forward to the effigies burning. Sculptures were filled with many firecrackers so, it burnt producing loud cracking sound. I too observed it carefully, as it was my first experience and heard many people gossiping about the effigies that this time Ravan is laughing but it is beautifully created and many more. I took many images and burning videos too.
Recently, I had gone through the news that Ravana cry each year when he is burnt because he takes himself as a right and trustworthy. He is right in the sense that he kidnapped Sita because he liked her and trustworthy in the sense that though he kidnapped her, he never did anything against Sita’s will and even promised her that he won’t touch her unless she allows him.
This news got printed somewhere in my heart and affected me. Because of this, I felt a little bit sad seeing the burning effigies of Ravana on the bank of Ganga Sagar in Janakpurdham but most of the people, felt happy thinking their bad times and worries would be uprooted from their town.
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