In a first, a temple that worships Ravan in Greater Noida village welcomes Ram

While the main gate of the temple is adorned by different statues depicting key moments in Ravan’s life, the sanctorum does not have any statue of the demon king. This too is set to change. “This Vijayadashami, we will install a statue of Ravan inside. Ram and Ravan share the same values, but different ideologies. Just like in today’s politics — the netas keep fighting in public but they meet each other cordially on different occasions,” said Mahant Ramdas.

“Today is a historic day as thousands of people came to the temple and celebrated the occasion,” he added.

While drawing a connection between Ram and Ravan from the mythology, he further said, “When Ram setu was being built to enter into Lanka, Ravan had performed a puja of Shri Ram. We want to give this message to the society that both can co-exist.”

It is believed that Ravan’s father Vishrawa was from Bisrakh village and was invited by Lord Shiva to perform rituals of Grih Pravesh when Lanka was being built for Goddess Parvati. According to mythology, after performing the puja, when Lord Shiva asked Vishrawa what he wanted as a Dakshina (gift), he demanded Lanka, which he later gave to his son Kuber. Lanka was taken over by Ravan later.

It is believed that the Shivling in the Shiva temple is the same where Ravan had offered his head 10 times as Tapasya.

Meanwhile, the village has no plans of burning the effigy of Ravan ever. “Though we have installed the statue of Ram, Ravan’s effigy will never be burnt in this village ever. Also, no Ramlila will be performed here. We will worship both (Ram and Ravan),” said Mahant Ramdas, who has been associated with the temple for around 40 years.