Chandigarh: At 102 ft, city’s tallest Ravana effigy to add spark to celebrations
In Panchkula, the 180-foot Ravana effigy, tallest in tricity, which collapsed and broke into three pieces during strong winds Saturday night, has been re-erected using JCB machines at the Dussehra Ground near Shalimar Mall. But its height has been reduced to 155 feet.
At 102 feet, Chandigarh’s tallest Ravana effigy will be the centrepiece of Dussehra celebrations in Sector 46 on October 12. With the effigies of Kumbhakaran and Meghnad, standing 90 and 95 feet tall, respectively, the occasion will see these being set afire, marking the triumph of good over evil. Each effigy, costing over ₹1 lakh, has been crafted by a 25-member team of artisans from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, who have been working for the past 40 days to bring the festival to life.
“We’re working day and night to ensure the grandeur of Ravana does justice to the festival. It’s a labour of love and tradition,” said Shahrukh Khan, one of the artisans. The preparations are now complete.
Meanwhile, five boys launched fireworks towards the effigies in a bid to set them on fire at 10 pm, alleged Jitendra Bhatia from Shri Sanatan Dharma Dussehra Committee. Security men tried to catch them but they fled. The committee condemned the action.
This year, 54 permissions have been granted across the city for holding Ramleela and Dussehra events. Effigies will be seen in numerous locations, including the Sector 17 parade ground, Sectors 43, 41, 42, 37, 30, 7, 22, 20, 29, 34, Ram Darbar, Daddu Majra/Dhanas and Bapu Dham.
In Panchkula, the 180-foot Ravana effigy, tallest in tricity, which collapsed and broke into three pieces during strong winds Saturday night, has been re-erected using JCB machines at the Dussehra Ground near Shalimar Mall. But its height has been reduced to 155 feet.
After the setback, the 25-member team, which has been working on the effigy for the past three months with a budget of around ₹18 lakh, reconstructed it in just 12 hours.
Tejinder Chauhan, the artisan behind the effigy, said, “We had finished setting it up. When we returned next morning, we found it lying on the ground in three pieces. It seems the strong winds loosened the rope we used to secure it. We re-constructed it in 12 hours and erected it with the height of 155-feet, the second highest in the country. The tallest 211-foot effigy in Dwarka has also been constructed by us.”
Chandigarh is no stranger to setting records. In 2019, the city made headlines when a 221-foot Ravana effigy was burned in Dhanas village, setting a global benchmark.
A team of 40 artisans worked for over three months andspent ₹30 lakh to create the colossal figure, having a 40-feet long moustache and a 55-feet sword.