Noida Through Ravana's Ten Heads
When a culture shows off the ten heads of its villain it raises a hard question: are those ten heads only a part of the past or are they still driving on the roads of Noida every day?
The Culture Gully’s video explores the symbolism behind Ravana’s heads, but their
meanings take on a different significance when seen through Noida’s everyday displays of power, pride and unchecked ambition.
Thirty kilometres away from the sleek and pristine passages of the nation’s capital, lies an entirely different world buried deep within the olden soil. In the small area of Bisrakh in Greater Noida, the effigy of Ravana is not burnt in celebration of Dussehra. Everywhere else in India, this effigy of bamboo and paper is burnt to symbolize the eternal victory of good over evil. But here in this village, which is believed to be the birthplace of Ravana, this act is not done. Instead of considering him to be some faraway mythical creature, they see Ravana as a great scholar, a worshipper of Lord Shiva, and a child born on their very land.
This geographical proximity to Delhi lends a strange modernity to this story, connecting the grandeur of ancient times to the bustling Noida of today. The ten heads of Ravana are not just part of a long forgotten myth; they are symbols of ambition, raw power, and dominion. In the vast sectors and high rise outskirts of Noida, these traits are reflected in the real world. Black coloured SUVs, Thars and Scorpios race across the roads like modern day chariots, making their way through traffic with an assertive display of masculinity and dominion. They are not just means of transport but also symbolic representations of status and power in the city.
This tradition of domination has an equally interesting similarity to the manner in which riches and power are flaunted on a larger national canvas. Like the ancient kings used to display their celestial chariots and golden fortresses, today’s events reflect an unparalleled level of indulgence, where unbelievable money is spent to impress everyone with their power. Even as these events are hailed as great achievements in the modern world, they still represent the same primitive urge for supremacy that was characteristic of the lord of Lanka.
However, in spite of all the urban glitz and glamour of today’s world, there exists a struggle between righteousness and pure ambition. Local papers often carry stories about road rage and territorial fights, as egos explode due to even the slightest provocation, like the arrogant pride of the king. Even a minor road argument in some dusty segment of the roads of the area can rapidly turn into a fight because of sheer stubbornness.
This unstable situation impacts the lives of ordinary people and workers of the industry directly. The videorecordings from dash cam devices showing aggressive road users in Noida who drive backwards, brake-checking others and seeking confrontations serve as a vivid evidence of uncontrolled aggression. The friction is evident in the perpetual fight over territory, power, and identity. The town of Bisrakh sees the continuous movements of bulldozers belonging to the Greater Noida Development Authority into floodplain regions for the purpose of demolition of unauthorized plots and encroached areas in an effort to establish strict administrative control over a territory which has resisted any kind of external regulation in the past. However, in the very midst of such efforts for demolition, there exists the historical octagonal Shivling and the underground caves where sacred rituals continue to be performed with a place of honor reserved for Ravana in the Havans.
Ultimately, the image of Ravana in Noida is not a simple one of evil alone; rather, it is a complicated shadow of the extremes of human ambition. It is a constant representation of the conflict between the need for spirituality and the temptations of greed. In the end, as the darkness envelops the buildings and the distant rumble of the highways can be heard, the historical background of the area continues to resonate beneath the surface. The contemporary inhabitants of the area drive fancy vehicles and sit in board rooms, yet the old spirit of ambition, power, and arrogance continues to thrive, indicating that the ten heads live on in the twenty-first century.
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