A 60-year-old man was busy sharpening knives, cutting bamboo sticks and tying them with wire to create frames for the base of
demon king Ravan’s effigies on a piece of land along Rae Bareli road.
Sagar Prasad Kashyap, who hails from
Shravasti district and works as a mason, says that the craft was being practised by his family for generations. He reveals that his forefathers started making Ravan’s effigy to get rid off a curse.
“My family was cursed four generations ago for not giving alms to a priest once and after which most children did not survive for long.
After six young ones died in teens, the elders started looking for a remedy. They went to a sage who told them to make Ravan’s effigies and sell them,” said Kashyap.
At least 10 Ravan effigies have to be sold every year at any rate to keep the curse away, he said.
“My father Bhanu Prasad told me about the curse in 1980s when I was in my teens.
The effigies then lacked finesse and were maximum 10 feet high. Gradually, we got to know about using bamboo, cardboard, paint and glitter,” said Sagar.
“Now from Ravan’s eyes to his large moustache, everything is crafted to perfection. It is time consuming but creative job and it gives a lot of satisfaction when the effigy finally takes shape. The money that comes along is a blessing,” he added.
As his orders and income increased, he called his relatives to assist him in making effigies of Ravan, Meghnad and Kumbhkaran.W “The price goes up to Rs 18,000 depending on size. We sold 22 effigies this year,” he said.
Sagar’s grandson Ajay (16) told TOI, “I learn new techniques on You-Tube to improve effigies. This time we used a sprinkler
firecracker in the effigy.”
“I stop going to school three weeks before Dusshera and come to Lucknow,” he said.
Sagar’s brother Surendra joins the conversation saying that getting bamboo is becoming difficult now.