Cutting across all religious barriers, a Muslim family from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh is continuing a decades-old tradition of making effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad for Dussehra celebrations at Shimla’s historic Jakhu temple ahead of the festival on October 20. These effigies would be engulfed in flames as a mark of victory of good over evil.
A young Muslim artist from Meerut, Mohammad Sohil, said his family had been associated with the tradition for around 20 years, following in the footsteps of its elders. The family’s wider tradition of making Dussehra effigies, according to the account provided, spans nearly 70 years.
We live in the temple and eat here. We have never faced any problems. “Some people try to divide the people on the basis of religion which weakens the secular fabric of the country which is unfortunate. We should maintain brotherhood among ourselves. “Hum jaise logon ke pass waqt hi kahan hai. Do waqt ki roti kamane mein hi sari umar nikal jati hai jo is bare mein soche (common man has no time to think about such communal issues. Some members are currently away making effigies at other places. The main structures have been prepared, and the cloth and other finishing work will now be completed. “We are being mindful of environmental concerns and have planned to use fewer firecrackers this year to reduce pollution. Some changes had also been made to the clothing used on the effigies as part of this year’s preparations.”
“We have been coming here for the past 20 years. “Our team generally consists of 20 to 22 people.
Everyone treats us with love and respect,” said Sohil. Sohil said the team had already spent three days at Jakhu and expected to complete the effigies within the next two days, with finishing touches to be given before the festival. There is no problem here, and everyone lives together with love,” he said. We are just worried about our daily earnings and feeding our families),” Sohil said. The final touches will be given before the festival,” he said. Another artist, Abdul Azim, said.
Earlier, our elders used to come, and now we have continued the tradition.
