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VIDHISHA: Every day, in a village 80km from Bhopal, the lines ‘Jai Lankesh gyan gun sagar, Asur raj sab lok ujagar’ reverberate across homes and fields. Unlike rest of the country, people here recite ‘Ravan Chalisa’, perform aartis of Ravan as god, not demon.On Thursday, when effigies of Ravan will be burnt to celebrate Dussehra, this village, called Rawan, will host a grand feast and puja of Ravan, whom its people consider ‘gram devta’.While elders recite ‘Ravan Chalisa’, composed by locals and displayed on a temple wall which has a 12-foot reclining statue of Ravan, the young move around on tractors and motorcycles with ‘Jai Lankesh’ stickers on the vehicles and tattoos on their arms.The village is home to 372 families, mostly Kanyakubj Brahmins.Located in Nateran tehsil of MP’s Vidisha, the statue is believed to be 500 years old. Lore has it that a demon called Budeka lived on a nearby hill and was instructed by Ravan to build his statue. The temple’s intricate carvings are seen as a reflection of Ravan’s wisdom and divinity.“In any social or religious event, Ravan Baba is worshipped first. Every day, puja is performed at the temple, attended by elders and young ones. This tradition has been followed for centuries,” said 78-year-old Laxmi Narayan Tiwari, a local and a senior advocate.Residents and village youth have formed Lankeshwar Welfare Society to carry out development and beautification work at the temple.The rituals surrounding Ravan here are unique.Temple priest Arvind Tiwari cited long-held beliefs that inviting “Ravan Baba” to any occasion brought good fortune — this is done by placing a cotton ball dipped in oil on the idol’s navel.Villagers said they had no idea when the village was called ‘Rawan’ but made it clear that they never wanted it changed as the name signified pride.Devotion to Ravan goes far beyond rituals. A village youth, Ankit Dhakad, has tattooed a picture of Ravan and his name on his hand. “All my friends have tattoos of Lankesh on their bodies. We feel pride in this because Ravan is our god,” he said.In the pond, there is a stone sword and nearly 7ft of the blade is visible when the water recedes in summer. Villagers claim it is “Chandrahas” — believed to be Ravan’s sword. For generations, people have tried to dig deeper to discover its full length, but no one has succeeded. The sword remains submerged, worshipped as a symbol of Ravan’s power.As the village sees Ravan as a scholar and protector, it opposes the practice of burning his effigy.“I attend Durga Utsav but do not watch the burning of Ravan’s effigy. It brings a lot of pain to me. He is our god whom we have been worshipping for generations; how can we see him getting burned?” said Manish Tiwari (51), a farmer.
