Raavan Dahan

Durga Pooja has a very special place in the heart of every Bengali. It doesn’t matter which part of the world they live in or how much older they get, the thought of Durga Pooja always fills their hearts with ultimate joy. It is sure to bring out loads of good memories from the past and most importantly the childhood ones. No one can forget the excitement of buying new dresses and shoes, the trips to various pandals to get a glimpse of the holy goddess and her children, the mouthwatering street food and most importantly the good times spent with friends and relatives. These feelings are unmatched and fill us with nostalgia. I too have a lot of wonderful memories of Durga Pooja but one of them stands out in particular since it was very different from my usual Durga Pooja celebrations. This was the time I got a chance to witness and be a part of the grand “Raavan Dahan” in a tiny village in Bihar.

We had a ritual of visiting my grandparents’ house during the long Pooja holidays. All our relatives would also come there during this time. So every year it used to be a sort of family reunion. But once when I was a kid, my Maasi fell ill and was not able to come. Ma was distraught since she was very close to her. So we decided to visit Maasi’s place on Dussehra, the last day of Durga Pooja.

During that time, Meso was posted in a village in the border of Bengal and Bihar. It was an overnight journey by train from my grandparent’s house. We reached there early morning. Maasi’s eight year old son Chotu and Meso came to pick us up at the station.

I felt I was transported from an ultimate chaos to total tranquility just within few hours. It was a serene village with lush fields and greenery all around. Maasi was overjoyed to see us. It was a very happy moment but somewhere within me I was little disappointed. I missed the colorful and fun filled celebrations. It was quite calm here and felt as if it lacked the essence of Durga Pooja. Well, this point of view of mine changed drastically as the day advanced.

Chotu seemed very excited from morning itself and was all ready to go out. He told us that today it was the ‘Raavan Dahan’ day! He was thrilled since this year he was playing the part of Ram. I had never seen ‘Raavan Dahan’ before. He told that it was the highlight that marked the ending of Durga Pooja. It was a grand affair in their little village. The local boys would make a huge effigy of Raavan, the demon king and burn it later. The venue of the event was their school playground. The preparations to make the effigy would start early in the morning. The boys would sneak into the farms when it’s still dark and steal bales of hay and long bamboo sticks so that nobody could catch them in the act. Later in the morning, all the children would gather under the cool shade of the old mango tree in the playground and start working together to make the effigy. Chotu offered me and my sister to be a part of the preparations and we gladly agreed.

It was a new kind of experience for us. We were welcomed by the Raavan Dahan committee. It consisted mostly of the children from the local school. The preparations had already began. They were making Raavan’s crown and jewels with cardboard and wrapped it up with golden shiny paper. We also jumped in and helped them by making a big sword for Raavan. One girl was painting Raavan’s demonic face on the biggest earthen pot they could get. It had huge flaring eyes, bushy eyebrows, a red ‘tilak’, a big moustache which curls on the tips and red thick lips. But it was definitely impossible to balance Raavan’s ten heads made with clay pots on his frame. So they all settled with the idea of drawing his remaining nine faces on thick papers and cutting it out. A total of nine kids, including us, were given the responsibility of drawing Raavan’s nine faces. We all drew his face according to our own imagination of Raavan. As a result, all the ten heads ended up looking very different from each other after assembling. It would make one wonder that evil definitely has many faces!

The job of the boys was the toughest one, to construct Raavan’s frame. They made a huge structure with long bamboo sticks tied up with thick jute ropes. Then they covered the whole structure with straw to give it some humanly shape. The most critical part of filling the belly of Raavan with crackers was carried out by one of the experienced member of the group. All the firecrackers were tied in one huge cloth and placed in the center of Raavan’s newly constructed belly. The crackers ranged from ‘aloo bomb’, ‘mirchi bomb’, ‘chatai bomb’ and many other types of bombs which would make loud noise. A perfect ‘dhoti’ for Raavan was also needed and this year it was provided by my adorable cousin Chotu. He stole Massi’s red sari with golden border while it was drying out in the sun and offered it to make dhoti. When caught, he had the perfect excuse for his petty theft. “Ma has so many sarees but Raavan has none, it’s only fair that he gets one”. He was quite proud of his heroic deed so all decided to go with it.

Now it becomes necessary for me to clarify that when I termed Raavan Dahan as a ‘grand affair’, it was strictly from the eyes of a nine year old girl. As we grow old, our perception of the word ‘grand’ changes considerably. We forget to appreciate the small yet beautiful things in life. In those days this was the definition of grand in my mind.

We children were sent home from the playground by afternoon and the remaining preparations were carried out by the elder kids. The school peon was given the duty to set up the mic system. From afternoon itself the loudspeakers started blaring, “Raavan Dahan sandhya saat baje iskool ground mein! Ana mat bhoolna!”. Occasionally it squeaked and another sound came out. “Ha ha ha ha! Main Raavan hoon! Main aa gaya hoon!”. Each time upon hearing this, my little sister jumped on the sofa and shouted “ Didibhai chol! Raabon eshe geche!”

By evening Maasi felt much better. She was very happy on our surprise visit. Both the sisters were busy making Vijayadashami special delicacies. Mutton curry was sitting on the stove spreading its aroma around the house. Payesh was also bubbling on the other burner. Ma was making the luchi dough. But we kids were getting very restless. Our minds were wandering towards our Raavan. The final look of Raavan was still a mystery to us. We were constantly pestering Baba and Meso to take us to the ground since it was dark already. Finally they relented.

The playground was teeming with people munching peanuts and ‘jhaal muri’ and waiting for the show to start. It seemed that people from the nearby villages also came to see our grand Raavan dahan. We were elated! The streets were lined with hawkers selling toys, beaded jewels and other knick-knacks. Food stalls were busy making ‘phuckas’, ‘ chaats’ and ‘pakodas’. Colorful gas balloons were floating in the sky all ready to be sold. Chotu ran towards the effigy since he was our Ram and had a big responsibility. The crowd made it difficult for us to see Raavan. My sister climbed Baba’s shoulder and I had to stand on a platform. On getting the view, she squealed and clapped her hands. As for me, I gaped in awe. The mighty Raavan was standing dressed in all his finery. He was looking fierce and majestic. His golden jewels were shining from street lights falling on it. His red dhoti flapped a little in the wind. I also spotted the sword I made for him and was overjoyed. The sense of owning him a little filled me with pride.

The show started on time. Chotu was dressed as Ram and was standing in his allotted position. A rocket bomb was placed in a tilted bottle and it aimed directly at Raavan’s belly. He was supposed to light it. People started shouting “Jai Sri Ram!” upon seeing Chotu. A medley of the chanting and Raavan’s roaring laugh could be heard from the loudspeakers. Someone helped Chotu to light the rocket bomb. At this point an unexpected thing happened. The rocket whooshed towards Raavan’s belly, made a little sound and vanished. Another rocket was fired from Chotu’s hand but it also went poof! The chanting now reduced to murmurs. There was restlessness in the crowd and a lot of panic in our Raavan Dahan committee. The roaring laugh of Raavan continued as the peon was instructed to stop it only when the effigy burns. It seemed as if Raavan was mocking at everybody. Finally our committee boys got impatient. Each one of them took a fire torch, and ran towards Raavan as if they are going to fight a battle with him. They directly incinerated the effigy from its feet. Immediately it burst into flames. It was quickly followed by the deafening sound of bursting crackers. The temperament of the crowd changed. People resumed their chants. Some covered their ears and others jumped with excitement. It seemed, in today’s world, one Ram alone cannot destroy the evil. It needs the combined effort of so many people.

My sister started crying loudly upon seeing her Raavan in flames. She didn’t expect this. I was little numb too, although I knew all along that this was the final fate of our Raavan. The flames went up higher and higher and the noise of crackers got louder. I twitched a little seeing each and every piece of our creation burning to ashes. After a while the sky was filled with smoke and the noise subsided. The crowd started retreating and we also followed suit. My sister stopped crying after getting a candy and a balloon but was still whimpering. While returning home Baba explained us the real idea behind Raavan Dahan. It marked the victory of good over evil. Raavan was a great king of his time. He was a learned man and very powerful. But he did a dishonorable thing by kidnapping Sita, the beloved wife of Ram, the king of Ayodhya. So King Ram fought a huge battle to get back his wife from the evil hands of Raavan. He won the battle and killed Raavan on this day. So we celebrate Raavan Daahan to mark the victory of Ram over Raavan. The effigy we burnt today symbolizes evil. This ritual is a reminder to the people that good is always victorious and we can always eradicate evil in the society if we want to. Listening to this, I felt better. It was true that we had put our heart and soul in the making of our Raavan but this festival of Raavan Dahan has a much deeper meaning. If all the people in the world believe that they could also eradicate evil and fight for it just like King Ram had done in his time, our society will become a much better place to live.

Back home, we filled ourselves with mutton curry, puffed up ‘luchi’ and ‘payesh’ and celebrated the spirit of Raavan Dahan!