Expressions of events in a general way, after spreading across cultures of a society, distance and bring together people over a period of time. Burning Ravenna’s effigy is expressed as the traditional Hindu practice in Dussehera, a festival celebrated commemorating the victory of Sri Rama over Ravana. The Dravidians, who are also Hindus, oppose the practice as they consider Ravana as a Dravidian icon. In recent years, politicians like Arun Sampath and actors like Kamaal Hassan oppose it on the ground of Ravana’s link with Dravidian culture. Some decades ago, Ravana dahan was prevalent in the regions of North India as a part of Dussehara festival. It was popular in Ram Leela performed in these regions. Along with Ravana, the effigies of Kumbhakarna and Meghanada were also burnt.
What is known as Dussehara in the regions of North India is famous as Durgapuja in East India, in Bengnal and Odisha to be specific. It needs mention that Ravanadahan was not a practice in traditional Durgapuja. In recent years it has become an important addition in Durgapuja in dashamitithi. When in North India the focus is given on the killing of Ravana, in East India, the focus is on the worship of Durga who was invoked by Sri Rama for her blessings. It is interesting to note that the image of Durga is installed as Mahishasur Mardini, the slayer of the Demon Mahisa. Mahisasur is so evil that Maa Duraga appeared with the power of all gods to vanquish him, while Sri Rama with the blessings of gods killed Ravana. Does not it show that Mahisasur was more evil than Ravana, whose kingdom was protected by the power of Shakti? Then why there is no Mahisasur Dahan? These are some questions remain unanswered while Ravana dahan is celebrated.
In a coastal village of Bhadrak, Odisha, a group of youths was collecting donations from drivers of all types of vehicles. When asked the reason, they told about Ravana dahan which they have started five years (from 2024)ago. It is a group different from the Durga puja Committee, but has the support of the latter. This is an example of coming together of different people around an even when it dons a general cloak.
Why Ravana dahan? Does it have a place in the Valmiki Ramayana? Are there any opposite practices and views pertaining to the dahan?
Sri Rama did not celebrate Ravana’s death as a victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’. In Yudh Kand of the Valmiki Ramayana, it is evident that Sri Rama performed the last rites of Ravanaas per tradition. It is mentioned in different versions of the Ramayana that he appointed the service of Ravana to worship Lord Shiva and sent Laxman to learn statecraft from the dying Ravana. He also penanced for killing a Brahmin, i.e., Ravana. When Sri Rama had respect for Ravana, do not we dishonour him by treating Ravana only as an incarnation of evil or demon? Sri Rama killed Ravana not because the latter was an embodiment of evil, but because he kidnapped Sita, obviously a crime committed. It is the duty of a husband to protect his wife, and if we look at it in social and religious sense, it is also a warning to wrong doers. Kumbhakrana and Meghnada supported Ravana, as a duty towards a king, and they had not kidnapped any woman. Shalya, Karna, Drona, Bhisma and several others fought for Duryodhan, but they are not equated with the ego of the latter. Why Kumbhakarna and Meghanada then with Ravana which reflects in the burning of their effigies? It is a complex issue and is not captured in cultural practice of the dhan which originated in a later period of the Valmiki Ramayana.
Is Ravana only an evil incarnation? Of course, he kidnapped Maa Sita. But he did not force upon to satisfy his sexual hunger, though he threatened her marriage. Forced marriage by kidnapping is a way obtaining a woman for wife in India and even in some communities it is in practice till date. Vali forcibly kept Tara, the wife of Sugriv. Is not he equally evil, and why is his effigy not burnt? Narkasur in Dwapar kidnapped 16,000 women from different kingdoms whom Sri Krishna had rescued. Kansa kept his sister and brother-in-law in prison and killed his newly borne babies. Even he imprisoned his father for the throne. Is Ravana’s crime as grave as the rape, murder, and cutting of women into pieces which seem to be the order of the contemporary time? Why not observe an occasion to condemn the evil which did not stop after thousands of years of burning the effigy of Ravana to celebrate the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’? Does evil lie outside or need to be fought within?
The justification of Ravana dahan comes from intellectual interpretation of Ravana as a symbol of ego. But ego is not something external, it is internal in an individual. It is the most dangerous element in human. Does Ravana dahan cleanse internal impurities which exist as ego? Does not Ravana dahan look like a practice of hiding the ego of individuals inside? This ego reflects in casteism, untouchability, and in other socio-economic and cultural inequalities. Why not burn this ego of individuals? Ego is never eradicated by burning Ravana; the totality of him should be celebrated to understand how an ego or pride can be ruinous. Is not celebrating the killing of an individual, not his bad quality in the self, a reflection of collective ego? Sri Rama killed Ravana, but do those who burn the effigy have a portion of Sri Rama’s quality for this celebration?
Ravana is a totality, and Indian knowledge system teaches us to look into the totality. Burning of the effigy of Ravana, however, points to our partial understanding based on intellectual dictation somewhere. Intellectual interpretation and conclusion carry individual view having weak collective wisdom. That is why the event, while celebrated by some, is mourned by others. Let me cite the example of Mahatma Gandhi who is regarded as the votary of non-violence. But records show his nature of violence when he used to deal with his wife violently. His teaching of non-violence has different interpretations and is questioned in recent years. Despite all these, he is the Father of the Nation and apostle of peace. The positive qualities in him defined him, not the negative ones.
Ravana’s killing was necessary for his mukti (freedom). It was destined, so also Sita’s kidnapping. The book that reports the course of Ravana’s life events–kidnapping, cruelty, devotion to Lord Shiva, etc. is accepted, then why Ravana is villainised? His action was predestined. Can he escape from it? Is not it disobedience to the destiny, which is at the core of Hindu dharma? Does not such disobedience go against the design of the destiny? Deviation from the path of righteousness is a sin as per dharma. Ravana had to be deviated so that he is liberated from taking birth in the world as per the boon granted to him by Lord Vishnu. Are not we deviating from righteousness by misinterpreting the dictate of the destiny written for Ravana’s life, his action and subsequent liberation? He knew that he would get salvation by enmity with Lord Vishnu. Then who made him villain or evil and why? Lord Vishnu took birth to liberate him from the curse of the four Kumaras. Does it not mean that Ravana is a favourite of the Lord, not a villain? My argument is not to glorify Ravana’s deed of kidnapping, but to place the event of Ravana dahan in a perspective with reference to the core of Hindu dharma and contemporary need of national unity. I also intend to argue that no one escapes the karma, even Jaya and Vijay, the gatekeepers of Lord Vishnu, and the powerful one does not defend the wrong karma of his or her retinues. He or she may suffer like Lord Vishnu, who took birth as mortal to liberate them from the effect of wrongdoing.
Given the absolute tag of evil to Ravana, he is viewed as asur or demon. His act of kidnapping a married woman and torturing is demonic, but he is not a demon. He was the son of sage Vishrva, who was the son of sage Pulastya; they were Brahmins. Ravana was therefore the son of a Brahmin, though his mother, Kaikesi, was demon princess. Ravana was a great scholar of Vedas, a powerful warrior, and a profound devotee of Lord Shiva. Ravana stotram is the powerful invocation to Lord Shiva, which is chanted with devotion among Hindus. Even he did not prevent his brother Bibhishan to show his devotion towards Sri Rama. He is the brother of Kuber, who we worship as god. Ravana is not an asur by birth but the designation is given for his work. Unfortunately, the karma overshadowed birth, as is seen in varna status.
Despite all his virtues, Ravana’s act of kidnapping made him the embodiment of evil or vice. It is not normal to respect the knowledge of a vicious person, which is popular in the form of stotram. This shows that his positive qualities are very strong. Ravana dahan, which is not in the Valmiki Ramayana, is a latter addition based on folk traditions, oral storytelling, or intellectual interpretation of Ravana as a symbol of ego and pride. It is believed that the interpretation of Ravana as a symbol of evil and associated event of dahan entered into the written text around 500 or 600 CE. And this tradition of the ‘Hindus’ has not been explicitly mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana, which is the source of 300 versions of the Ramayana, including Ramcharita Manas, Kamba Ramayana, etc. It is comparatively a new addition to the story of Ramayana. In Rama Leela, the episode has literary significance, but in its addition to Dussehara and then to Durgapuja gives the impression of a dilution of the original text. And individuals satisfy their ego by placing them in the place of Sri Rama while burning the effigy. The ego makes us blind to Ravana’s great qualities.
As has been mentioned above, all the Hindus or Hinduised groups do not approve of the tradition of Ravana dahan. Bhil tribes of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh consider Ravana their ancestor and observe mourning during dahan. Gond tribes of Central India also mourn over his death consequent upon the burning of effigy. Asur tribe, a Hinduised tribe of Jharkhand, worships Ravana and mourns his death and dahan. In Baijinath of Himachal Pradesh, Dussehara is not celebrated and Ravana’s effigy is not burnt because the people in the area believe that Lord Siva, who is in the form of the Baijinath, would get angry as the former was his greatest devotee. However, they do not worship Ravana The village Bisrakh, a village in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, does not celebrate Dassahara and do not burn the effigy of Ravana, as they believe that Ravana was born there. Maudgil Brahmins of Jodhpur consider Ravana as their son-in-law and so they neither celebrate Dussehara nor burn the effigy. So, it is preposterous to call Ravana dahan exclusively a Hindu tradition, as it has its oppositions even among the Hindus.
When the truth distorts, the astha is invoked for justification. Astha is not different from the perception of truth, which people hold collectively without any iota of doubt at a period of time. But when the astha based on individual ignorance, ego, power, or misinterpretation of the text continues in different contexts and raises questions, appeals to ego, organises or reorganises people in the name of astha, or divides the sense of collectivity, then astha has over lived its time. Otherwise, astha would not have been looked into in doubts. Astha needs relocation and something appropriate in the context. Some argues Ravana dahan as a symbol of unity. Whose unity? Unity of Hindus or the Nation? Unfortunately, both seem questioned.
Does Ravana’s killing mean only an incident of victory over evil? Does not it mean liberation of Ravana towards ultimate freedom from birth in the world? Does not it glorify the tradition of monogamy (ekpatni and ekpativow)? Does not it signify the freedom of women form the captivity of masculine hyper sexuality? Perhaps if the day of burning the effigy of Ravana is celebrated considering any of the above perspectives, it will be a positive step towards presenting the event with an appropriate meaning to respect the tradition and strengthen national unity. The negativity that reflects in Ravana dahan will not be strong enough to upset the positive and balanced perspective on Ravana.
When astha encounters anastha, it is certainly a wake-up call for an appropriate rastha with contemporary relevance.
(Written by Dr. Maguni Charan Behera I Rtd. Professor of Tribal Studies I email: mcbehera1959@gmail.com)
