Although, the ten-day long festivities are at its peak for the day of Vijaydashmi (Dussehra), when the effigies of the demon king, Ravan along with his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnad are erected before they are burnt to ashes, the actual preparations begin much earlier.

The deft fingers start giving the shape to the demon king’s curly mustaches, broad lips and bulging eyes right after Rakshabandhan in August and turns Titarpur, a small village in West Delhi into a factory that churns out effigies of the demon king of Lanka. For two months the Ravanwallas work day and night to erect giant effigies. Here, evil is custom-made, that too in all shapes, sizes and colours and brings good fortune.

Most of the Ravan makers are the migrants from Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. They begin their work around August and buy bamboo sticks from Nangloi and tear them apart and tie them together to make the effigy frames. They also buy discarded silk Sarees from the dealers selling second-hand goods to cover the frames. All the parts are made separately, and eventually assembled together. The women in the family also help in colouring and decorating the effigies.

The minimum cost price of an effigy is Rs 1,000-3,500 and it is sold at anything between Rs 3,500 and Rs 8,000. Though 70 per cent of Ravan effigies are still lying alongside the road unsold, most of the business happens during the last 2 or 3 days of the Ramleela.

With roads busy in the day time, Ravan effigy makers prefer working during the night as there is less traffic on the road during night. One of the worker also told that they are required to entertain cops who allow them to use road side for the trade on regular basis. He also added that bikers also serve as an utter nuisance for them during night by tearing off the faces of the effigies.

Source : www.retinacharmer.com

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