Ahmedabad Ravana Dahan preparations are underway at the AES Ground in Thaltej, where a 51-foot effigy of Ravana and 35-foot effigies of Meghnath and Kumbhkaran are scheduled to be burned at 5.30 pm on October 20, according to a report by Gujarat Samachar.
The programme will include fireworks and other events, with a large public turnout expected. The report said the three effigies will be fitted with 500 sutli bombs and additional fireworks. Their burning will be operated through a remote-control system, according to Mohammad Ishaq Bahubhai, the chief artisan involved in making them.
The Thaltej event is also linked to a long-running artisan tradition based in Ahmedabad’s Manek Chowk area. Ishaq said his Muslim family, which lives in Rani no Hajiro, has been making Ravana effigies for five generations. He described the relationship with organisers and community groups involved in Dussehra events as continuing across generations.
The family’s work extends beyond the Thaltej programme. Ishaq said a team of more than 10 members begins preparations around two months before Dussehra and makes effigies for venues in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Nadiad, Petlad, Sabarmati and the TV Tower Ground, among other locations. In one account quoted in the report, he said the team completes eight Ravana effigies for different sites in about 20 to 25 days.
The effigies are made using bamboo strips, paper, coloured paper, paint, sutli and coir, among other materials. Ishaq said the family prepares effigies not only for Ahmedabad but also for several nearby towns. The report placed the cost of making one effigy at more than Rs 1 lakh, making the seasonal activity an important source of income for the artisan group.
This year, the family has added two or three new variations to the effigies, Ishaq said. The Thaltej figures will include mines, comets, cold pyrotechnic fireworks and sutli bombs. The report attributed the event details and artisan accounts to the organisers and the family, while the scheduled programme is set to take place at the AES Ground at 5.30 pm on October 20.
