The entire nation of India celebrated the festival of Dusshera or Vijayadashmi to commemorate the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana. This day is known worldwide as the victory of good over evil. The whole nation celebrates this day with full enthusiasm and energy and people watch with joy as Ravana’s effigy go ablaze. However, while the whole nation is busy celebrating Ravana’s iconic defeat, there is a village near Noida that goes by the name Bisrakh which mourns the death of Ravana and stays silent during Dushera. Why? Because it’s believed that Ravana was born on their land.
The village is just 30 kilometres from the India’s capital Delhi. The day of Dusshera is considered inauspicious in this village and mourns for the loss of their son. This village of 900 families is probably also building a new temple dedicated to Ravana. This temple, which is surrounded by the new buildings is coming up to be a rapidly developing village. It has life-sized Ravana idols that stand alongside his family along with an idol of Lord Shiva whom Ravana devoted with all his heart.
A unique puja is performed for nine days before the day of Dussehra in this temple. The temple also houses an extremely unique octagonal shaped Shiva Linga alongwith Valmiki Ramayana embossed on it that is said to be excavated from the cave. The boundary wall will also have idols of those related to Ravana like Kumbhkarna, Supranakha and others.
While the entire country celebrates Lord Ram’s victory over the arrogant Ravana, this village’s dedication to Ravana’s legacy showcases how much diverse our Indian culture is.