Setting fire to Ravana's effigy

by Padma EDIRISINGHE

The ceremony of Dhussera needs some explanation. It is a ceremony enacted in Bharatha Desha in which an effigy of the mighty King Ravana whom many here believe had dominated a large empire extending to Central India with our island as the nexus, is set fire to.. For what reason?

As many know the provocation is the abduction of princess Sita wife of King Rama, hero of the great Indian epic, Ramayana .... Perhaps the most publicised abduction in the East. Ravana plays an equally prominent role in this epic as Rama, whom some regard as an avatar of God Vishnu...

Just as no Indian can escape the shadow of Rama no Sri Lankan can escape the shadow of Ravana. To put it more explicitly no Sri Lankan man or woman or youth or lass can pretend not to have heard of the mighty icon, Ravana. He has got mingled so deep with our folk legends, folk drama, folk tales, folk arts and what not. Movements have and are still burgeoning with Ravana as the undisputed leader. Many a patriot of Lanka prefer to claim him as the Founder of the Hela race as against a fugitive prince with a criminal record chased away by his own father. Further that renowned archaeologists both local and foreign are unearthing more and more clues that add substance to the legend of a glorious pre-Vijayan or pre-Christian era only serves to strengthen the Ravana tale drifting it away from a mere illusion sprung in the minds of certain Helas to feed their ego.

An effigy of King Ravana

The Ramayana Trail is the latest fad in the exotic Ravana pooja. Endeavours are made to find his birthplace, the many places he lived in, the varied spots that he held Sita in captivity and his tomb. Meanwhile a faction has sprung emitting banshee cries against the Trail, cries as "Foul" and "Down with the Trail!" In between writers such as Vijaya Dissanayake dousing flames, have tried to give a balanced picture of the whole issue.

Descendent

Personally I am not infatuated by Ravana, never able to get frenzied on issues and persons but I accidentally encountered him several times. A few years back I was dazed by the behaviour of a former University batchmate who had got the idea that she is a descendent of Ravana. No one could stop her wearing weird apparel that she assumed to have been worn by women folk of the Ravana era. That was infatuation to the maximum degree.

In India I saw him being subject to hell's own fires when friends took me to view the Dhussera ceremony. My friends were Indians still hot over the fact that this ruler from a small island had dared to abduct a princess of high standing in Indian society and they watched the dancing fires with glee. But I admit that I shed some tears at the sight for he has gained such a reputation in my island as a mighty emperor who brought credit to Lanka despite being a kidnapper of women. Well. Who is the human who does not err.? An excuse for the kidnapping is even cited which is that the nose and ears of Suparnika, Ravana's sister who was governor of Dandakar in India, had been cut by Lakshman and Ravana intended taking revenge for this heinous act. Those were primordial times yet mod enough to have female rulers.

This mighty king banged against me again when I was invited to do a review of "Ramayana". (There are many academics who are prepared to digest me alive for daring to write book reviews). Anyway that is not the Ramayana panned by Valmiki in a period between the 5th Century and 3rd century BC but a recently written Ramayana trying to thrash out the issue. Whether Ramayana is a myth or historical narrative and also attempting to explore the identity of Ravana. Finally in the professor's masterpiece poor Ravana flops to a mere tribal chief of India. But Ravana is back again, a virile figure... In fact he influences contemporary history as testified to by a recent writer. Call him far fetched but he gives the credit of stalling the Sethu Samudra project that was to be launched by the Indian State recently to the Rama Ravana combat. Need details? Not necessary, I feel that very few Lankans and Indians are ignorant of the bridge Rama is supposed to have built to bring his forces over here to punish Ravana. The Indians have a way of not forgetting their past.

Subjugation

They very distinctly remember the place where Rama was born, that has caused trouble in Ayodhya now. May be the Indian memory is getting sharpened more for at the time the Moslem mosque was built over this sacred Janmabhoomi (world used there too) there had been no fuss raised. For had there been a fuss the mosque could not have come up if you are not prepared to believe in the total subjugation of the Hindus by the Moslems as to crush any opposition. Further the average Indian seems to have a well preserved memory or the society around him has not changed much since ancient times.

If the places mentioned in Iliad and Odyssey are desecrated, the present day Greeks would not make such a fuss for they have given up the religious beliefs practised in those times. Now as Christians, orthodox or otherwise they do not exhibit the same sensitivity to such desecration as shown by the Indian Hindus for whom the Ramayana yet remains the greatest epic poetry.

So we have this situation in India that may seem incongruous to some especially regarding a bridge built in a period of photo -history. But nothing seems to be that incongruous to the average Indian or for that matter even for the elite Indian. The article mentioned refers to the Dhussera ceremony held recently in New Delhi where the effigy of Ravana is burnt. Unlike the ceremony I watched.

This recent Dhussera had been presided not only by the Harvard educated PM of India Monmohan Singh, but by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul. Effigies of Ravana and Vibhishana had been placed before the trio and a bow and arrow given to the PM who shot an arrow at Ravana, the iconic king of Lanka. Then the effigies had been stoned and burnt. Annually burning Ravana's effigy on Indian soil can be taken as an insinuation that India is still wary of our Ravana whom they firmly believed to be a historical figure. Maybe this writer is rather naive, but thinks it rather pathetic that when other races are trying to promote their age-old heroes that we are trying our very best to disown them. Surely there has to be some substance in the Rama Ravana tale. Otherwise it would not survive such an incredibly long period of time and even attain the status of "Lifeblood of ancient India" literarywise. The writer mentioned congratulates Ravana for saving Lanka from two potential catastrophes, 1) trans - frontier impact of India's Sethu canal project on Sri Lanka's security environment and 2), the catastrophic clash between India and China on Lankan turf. If those are to be believed and confirmed cannot this impact too be added, of spawning the great epic Ramayana that continues to fire the imagination of South Asia for centuries irrespective of variations in faith and race?

Even the Javanese of Moslem faith are said to enact theatrical performances based on the Ramayana encasing the Rama Ravana legend. Whatever outcomes there are, this at least leaves one to ponder on what a gigantic emotive force the Rama Ravana legend has unleashed among throngs of humans happy in their own mental states! This segment of the population may not have much to be happy about.

One thing they can be happy about is that they are not equipped with the academic shield that makes the wearer doubt everything that he or she comes across making them cry foul, at any provocation.

Pity them for they are left with very few things to believe in religious building at Aayodhya under dispute.