Haryana, Punjab see tallest, revolving Ravans

CHANDIGARH - An extremely tall Ravan effigy being consigned to the flames in a village in Haryana’s Ambala district and revolving effigies of Ravan and his kin in Punjab’s Bathinda town were the highlights of the Dussehra festival in the two states Sunday.

The Ramlila committee in Bathinda town in south-west Punjab put up the revolving effigies of demon king Ravan, his son Meghnad and brother Kumbhkaran.

This was an amusing sight for hundreds of people who came to witness the burning of the effigies, which continued to revolve even as they were set afire.

In Haryanas Brara village in Ambala district, 65 km from here, the Ramlila committee put up what was claimed to be one of the tallest Ravan effigies in the country. The effigy, standing nearly 200 feet tall, required nearly 35 quintals of bamboo for its construction and cost about Rs.500,000.

Last year, the effigy in Brara village stood at 175 feet.

Thousands of people thronged Dusshera grounds in several towns and cities across Punjab and Haryana to celebrate the festival which symbolizes the victory of good over evil.