While the entire nation celebrates this festival of defeating bad over good, there is an ancient temple in my city, Kanpur which is dedicated to Ravana. Yes, Ravana was one of the biggest follower of Lord Shiva and this temple is for him. He was a man with infinite powers, knowledge and wisdom. He knew everything about his life. He even knew that he will be killed by Lord Rama who was an avatar of Lord Vishnu, that would help him attain moksha. In my city Kanpur, thousands of people worship Ravana in this ancient temple called Dashanan Temple or Ravana temple.
Situated in Shivala area of the city, this temple was built adjacent to Lord Shiva’s temple and is closed for the entire year. It is opened only the Vijaya Dhashmi day and puja-archana is being performed and the again, the temple is shut for entire year, until the next Vijaya Dhashmi day. It is said that he was the most powerful Brahmin who had powers to change the alignment of the planets in the universe.
He is indeed called as the demon kind of Lanka, but here in this temple… he is worshiped like a God. More than 50,000 people visit this temple every year on Vijayadhashmi / Dussehra.
In the morning at 9am, the temple is opened and Ravana is worshipped all day long till the mahurat of Ravana dehen, then it is closed till the next year’s dussehra.
Frankly. I am very fascinated from these facts and found them really interesting. Nothing fascinates me more than Ramayana and Mahabharata. Though, I am from Kanpur but I never got a chance to visit this temple. The entire year, it is closed and today… on Dusshera, it is over-crowded. People from all across the world come to visit this temple on the Vijaya Dashmi.
I really found this worth sharing with you all. Isn’t it so fascinating?
Also read:
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