Paper short abstract:

From being a local ritual in a village in the margins of Delhi; burning of Ravana effigies on Dussehra has become a festival of national importance. The present paper analyses the integration of (Ravana Effigy-burning) with a performing art (Ram-Lila) associated with a major festival (Dussehra).

Paper long abstract:

Ramayana is among the greatest Sanskrit epic-poems in Indian literature; whose principal characters Rama and Ravana, personify good and evil in Hindu mythology. During Navratras, the story of Ramayana is enacted as stage-dramas (Ram-Lilas), which culminates with burning of gigantic effigies of Ravana on the night of Dussehra, symbolizing victory of good over evil. The present paper studies two inter-related facets of this performing-art in a ritual context.

Firstly, it studies how effigy burning, which began as an unknown local event; gradually become an integral part of Ram-Lilas. In 1960s, an old man living in Titarpur village, initiated community-level burning of effigies of Ravana on Dussehra. The event gradually gained popularity, as people in the surrounding localities gradually adopted the ritual, integrating it with Ram-Lila. Today, ram-lilas are incomplete and considered inauspicious, without the symbolic burning of effigies.

Secondly, the paper studies the lasting impact of this religious tradition on the local economy, and the associated value-system of effigy-makers or "Ravan-wallas"; for whom Ravana, despite being a demon, is no less than a god; as the craft associated with effigy-making, is their basic source of life sustenance. Titarpur is the largest centre for making Ravana-effigies in India. Effigies are made for a month before Dussehra; and the income generated is sufficient enough to sustain them for the rest of the year.

Therefore, an integration of a minor local event (effigy-burning) with a major performing art (ram-lilas), is today the sole source of livelihood for the people of Titarpur.