Devotees flocked to the Dashanan Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Tuesday to worship Raavan on the occasion of Vijayadashami, also known as Dussehra.
Visuals from the temple showed devotees offering prayers to the idol of Raavan.
Dashanan Temple priest, Ram Bajpai, told ANI that the temple opens only on the occasion of Dussehra and devotees come to pray that their children acquire wisdom and power similar to that of Raavan.
“We open this temple on the Day of Dussehra and worship Raavan and the temple is closed in the evening after burning of Raavan effigy. The temple opens only on the day of Dussehra. We worship him for his knowledge. There was no one else who possessed the power, knowledge and wisdom similar to that of Raavan. His only drawback was his arrogance,” said the temple preiest.
“We burn that arrogance in the form of his effigy and we pray over here (at the temple) for our children to have power and wisdom similar to what Raavan possessed,” the priest added.
The temple in Kanpur is said to be 125-year old.
Among other temples dedicated to Raavana are the Raavana Mandir in Bisrakh, Greater Noida. In Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district there is the Kakinada Raavan temple believed to be built by Raavan when he was the king of Lanka in honour of Lord Shiva. There are several temples in Madhya Pradesh dedicated to Raavan, including one in Mandsaur where the wedding of Raavan with Mandodari was believed to have taken place and another in Vidisha, which is believed to be the native of Mandodari.
Dussehra is that time of the year when the well-known Ramleela is held, massive fairs are organized and people gather in large numbers to see Raavan effigies burst into flames.
Dusshera falls on the tenth day of Sharada Navratri, however, despite the fact that celebrations and cultural practices vary according to the location in India’s culturally rich country, the festival’s fabric that binds everyone together remains.