New Delhi: The Lankesh Bhakt Mandal offered prayers to Dashanan Ravana at the Shiva temple at the foothills of Yamuna in Mathura on Wednesday on the occasion of Vijayadashami. Maha Aarti was performed in the form of Ravana. Lankesh Bhakt Mandal demanded that the government stop the practice of burning effigies. The practice of burning the effigy of Ravana every year was said to be an insult to the ideals of Lord Shri Ram. Preparations are also being made by Lankesh Bhakt Mandal to build a grand temple of Ravana at Ramlila Maidan.
The people of Saraswat Brahmin community, who are considered descendants of Ravana, also worshipped Lankapati in Ramlal Ashram of Agra. They took the form of Ravana and worshipped the girl child, performed the aarti of Lord Shankar and made a havan and appealed to the people not to burn the effigy of Ravana. They described Ravana as a patriarch and a great saint who respected a learned woman.
Omveer Saraswat Advocate, President of Lankesh Bhakta Mandal said that the effigy of Ravana, a devotee of Lord Shiva, should not be burnt. Following the ideals of Lord Shri Ram, we should immediately stop the evil practice of burning effigies. In Hindu culture, a person’s last rites are performed only once. The effigy of a dead person is not burnt, he said.
