There is a unique tradition dedicated to Dusshera in Uttar Pradesh. Only once a year, on Vijayadashami, does a temple in the Shivala neighbourhood of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, dedicated to Ravan, the demon king from the Ramayana, open to worshippers.
From 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., worshippers pray at the temple before Ravan's effigies are set ablaze throughout the city to symbolise the triumph of good over evil and his defeat by Lord Ram.
"Devotees light mustard oil diya here, and women offer torai (ridge gourd) flowers for marital blessings. In the morning, we celebrate Ravan's birthday. At night, Lord Ram grants him salvation and Ravan departs for Vaikunth Dham (heaven)," priest Chandan Maurya cited.
Locals said thousands of people visit the temple on Vijaya Dashami, paying respect to the very figure who, by evening, is symbolically destroyed through the burning of effigies.
"It is not Ravan himself who is burned, but his effigy. The reason is that he gained great power and wisdom and ruled over the world, but he misused those qualities. He became egoistic and when someone becomes egoistic, it leads to wrongdoing," a devotee, Rajinder Gupta, said.
The Kanpur shrine is not the only temple dedicated to Ravan in India. Communities in different parts of the country also venerate the demon king, with some even regarding him as an ancestor, like in Bisrakh village in Noida -- believed to be the birthplace of Ravan. Bisrakh also has a temple dedicated to Ravan where devotees throng not just on special occasions but throughout the year. The western Uttar Pradesh village does not burn Ravan's effigy, instead it worships him.
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