Ravana Goes Designer

At first glance,it’s noticeable how the outfit is not overly flamboyant. The design,explain the students,signifies “four Vedas,six shastras and 10 heads earned by Ravana”. It also highlights the life of Ravana,who was also a big devotee of Shiva and a scholar. The students — Manoj Kumar,Vishvajeet Mann,Gurpreet Bajwa,Swati Nagpal,Pankaj Prabhakar,Amit Chauhan,Divpreet Kaur,Damini Sawhney,Virender Kumar,Monica,Malika Sharma,Karisma Rehlan,Kamaljeet Brar and Shivang Sharma — have worked to show a balance of his good and evil side. The other elements of the costume include the metal engraving work done by the students to make emblems and symbols studded with crystals,incorporated in various parts of the costume. Golden emblems of Shiva,Kaal and Kuber along with lotus symbols and ornate armbands add to the look of the unique ensemble.

The front of the dress showcases Shiva and the waist belt has been designed to depict Kuber. Ravana,explain the students,was an expert in all 64 art forms which have been depicted on his robe as red velvet circles with lotus symbols. The nine lotuses in the centre depict the nine moods of Ravana in descending order of sizes showing that selfishness was the most prevalent mood in his personality and fear was the least. While the Ramlila audience might not get to see the effort in the new outfit,but for the students it’s a project well done.