http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/This_Kanpur_village_worships_Ravana/articleshow/3577219.cms
This Kanpur village worships Ravana 9 Oct 2008, 1556 hrs IST,PTI KANPUR: His effigies are burnt across the country on Dussehra to mark victory of good over evil, but the demon king Ravana is revered by villagers of Pukhranya in Kanpur who worship him as a hero and bring out a procession carrying his idol. "Ravana was a brave, intelligent and a good king of Dravidian Gaud tribe and we consider him as our ancestor. We hold a fair on this day so that the next generation would remember his sacrifice and continue the tradition," said Dhanirao Boddh, Indian Dalit Panther's President and one of the organisers of the annual festival on Dussehra. In fact, the outfit questions the practice of burning effigies which, it said, causes environmental pollution. "Nobody takes permission to burn Ravana's effigies either from Pollution Control Board or from the administration," said another member of the outfit, Genda Prasad Gaud. "Law does not permit effigy burning. Then why do they burn Ravana's effigy to hurt our sentiments," he said, demanding an immediate ban on the practice. Apart from Ravana's idol, the villagers of Pukhranya bring out a procession with idols of Meghnath, Kumbhkaran, Sambhuk, Gautam Budh, Ambedkar, King Ashok, Periyar and other dalit leaders. Boddh claimed that a a Bodh Deksha ceremony will be organised where Hindus will adopt Buddhism.
