Barara’s Dasehra loses its glory

Once famed for hosting the tallest effigy of Ravana, the Barara Dussehra festival has faded from its past glory. The Shri Ram Lila Club, which set new records by installing effigies as tall as 210 feet until 2017, has since stopped erecting giant structures due to the absence of a dedicated ground.

From 20 feet to 210 feet

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- The Shri Ram Lila Club has been building effigies since 1987, starting with 20 feet

- The height was raised every year, reaching 210 feet in 2017

- Barara’s Ravana effigy entered the Limca Book of Records five times

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Since then, Barara’s own master craftsman, Tejinder Chauhan, president of the club and the man behind the towering effigies, has been invited by organisers across the country. This year, he is preparing a 215-foot effigy in Kota, Rajasthan, weighing nearly 12 tonne.

“We used to install the tallest effigy of Ravana every year in Barara and organise a five-day festival. It attracted huge crowds and hundreds of small vendors earned during the mela. But it has all become a thing of the past because we don’t have a big ground,” Chauhan said.

“The grounds we used earlier have been shrinking due to residential colonies. Lack of government support, political will and lukewarm response from local organisations forced us to stop. This year, for the first time, we are preparing an effigy with nine smaller faces in addition to the main one, which itself weighs three tonne,” he added.

Chauhan said he still hopes to bring the festival back to his hometown. “We are ready to revive it in Barara if we get the required support. If given an opportunity, we don’t need to visit other states.”

Meanwhile, Vikram Rana, president of Barara Dasehra Mahotsav Samiti, admitted the festival has lost its sheen. “Barara festival used to be a matter of pride. Due to space constraints, it stopped, which was disappointing. This year we will still install a 90-foot effigy and host cultural programmes. Even now, it took us a week to drain water from the ground to make it ready,” he said.