Even as most of the country was busy setting up huge effigies of demon king Ravana and his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghnad to be burnt on the eve of Dussehra, the villagers of Bhatkhedi in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh were making totally different preparations.
They were repainting huge idols of Ravana and Kumbhakarna—permanent fixtures at and identity of ‘Ravan waali Bhatkhedi’ (Bhatkhedi of Ravana)—at an agriculture farm right off the Agra-Mumbai national highway that runs by the village, around 120 km away from capital Bhopal.
On Dussehra day, even as the Ravana trio effigies were burnt across the country with huge fanfare to signify the victory of good over evil, Bhatkhedi villagers did something different again.
They took out a procession from the village to the decorated 100-odd years old Ravana-Kumbhakarna idols, staged the Ramlila (dramatic depiction of epic Ramayana) there as is the custom, but at the end, effigies were not burnt. Rather the idols were symbolically poked with javelins carried by the artists playing Lord Rama and brother Lakshmana, to signify the death of the demon king and brother.
But in the form of huge idols, the demon king and brother continue to look over the village permanently. “Here in Bhatkhedi, we strongly believe that Ravana and Kumbhakarna were the incarnations of Jay and Vijaya—the guards to the abode of Lord Vishnu, who were cursed to be born thrice on earth. Actually they were devout and great scholars. So we don’t burn their effigies and rather preserve their idols to signify their presence permanently,” 65-year-old Kaluram Yadav, a village elder says.
Though the idols are not worshiped as such, through out the year, believers from Bhatkhedi and several surrounding villages come to see the idols and seek fulfillment of desires. “When these desires are fulfilled, they bring back sweets, coconut and incense sticks to express gratitude. It is not that everyone does this, but several people do,” deputy sarpanch of Bhatkhedi and president of the Ramlila Committee, Premnarayan Yadav says.
No one in the present generations actually knows the specific reason for setting up the idols or the exact period when they were set up. But they do know that earlier the idols, placed in the open, were earthen and had to be rebuilt every year as rainfall would damage them. “About 80 years ago, they were turned into permanent concrete structures but even now every year before the Dussehra they are painted afresh,” Kaluram says.
The most common belief about the idols is that they were set up to give a unique identity to Bhatkhedi. Premnarayan says that the earliest settlers of Bhatkhedi were dalits and tribals. “Therefore in the region, Bhatkhedi was associated with an offensive caste-based euphemism. When people of other castes started settling here, more than 100 years ago, they thought they would set up Ravana and Kumbhakarna idols here so that the village would have a special identity,” the deputy sarpanch says. This idea seems to have worked as the village is indeed now known as ‘Ravan wali Bhatkhedi'.
As to why the demon king who signifies evil and arrogance was chosen for the identity is something the villagers can’t answer. Kaluram, a seventh generation settler, says that some elders used to say that Ravana had blessed the village and therefore, he and his clan are revered here.
Whatever might be the reason, the attractive permanent idols of Ravana-Kumbhakarna and the unique tradition of not burning their effigies on Dussehra day, continue to hold a place of pride in Bhatkhedi. The coming generations are sure to carry on this special tradition going by what Kaluram’s grandson Abhishek, 16, says. “We feel this tradition is positive and gives an extraordinary touch to our village. It should be carried on,” the youngster says.