BHOPAL: While most people celebrated the victory of good over evil by burning the effigy of Ravan, a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district worshipped ‘Ravan Baba’ as an annual ritual on Dussehra on Saturday.
The village panchayat is also named after Ravan and is called Ravan Panchayat, situated under Nateran Janpad of the district.
“It’s an age-old tradition here. Ravan Baba, as the villagers call it, is worshipped as the First God or ‘Kul Devta’ in this village. After worship, a ‘bhandara’ was also held in the village. The locals offer oil on the navel of the Ravana idol. The idol is in a lying position,” said secretary of the Ravan Panchayat, Jagdish Prasad Sharma.
There is no official information, but locals estimate the lying idol of Ravana with ten heads is more than 500 years old. Not only is there a temple for the demon king, but the deity is considered so important that during marriages, it is Ravana who is given the first invitation.
Representative of the Village Sarpanch Preet Kirar, Rajesh Dhakad, said, “On Dussehra we worshipped ‘Ravan Baba’, then ‘aarti’ was held, and thereafter a ‘bhandara’ was also held. In the case of marriages, the first invitation is given to the deity.”
Sources said that there are several anecdotes and myths associated with the idol. One story says that at a nearby hill, Dudha Hill, there was a demon in ancient times who used to trouble local villagers. They challenged him that if he was so powerful, he should go and fight with ‘Lankesh’. The demon then rushed towards Lanka, but the guards of Ravan did not let him go inside. He kept trying until one day, ‘Lankesh’ came hearing his cries and then fought with the demon.
After killing the demon, Lankesh put his sword at the village pond and then took a little rest. This way, the resting or lying position of the idol is justified through myths, say locals.
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