North India's first Ravana temple coming up in Jodhpur

Jodhpur, Nov 22: In this north Indian city of Hindu heartland where Lord Rama is the main deity, a temple dedicated to demon King Ravana is being built by his descendants here.

This will be first such temple in north India. The town is considered to be Mandodari's, Ravana's wife, native place.

It is believed that Queen Mandodari hailed from Mandore, which was the ancient capital of Jodhpur state. And a 'chhatri' (umbrella) named 'chavri' still stands here, claimed to be the place for Ravana-Mandodari marriage.

The Ravana temple is being built in Mahadev Amarnath and Navgrah temple premises in city's Chandpole area where idols of Ravana's main deities Shiva and Devi Kharanna stand.

The temple premise will house a Ravana temple having idols of Ravana and his family members.

The temple priest Kamlesh Dev said the idol of the demon king will be in the form of offering prayers and water to Lord Shiva, so that people gets to see his ''religious and softer side''.

The 'Chhitar' stone (special stone from Jodhpur) idol is being built by Osian sculptor Chunnilal.

Kamlesh said the idols would be placed in the temple after observing the planetary positions in the next six months. He said this would be the first such temple in north India.

The priest said after Ravana's capital Lanka was devastated in the war with Lord Rama, many of his descendents travelled to Mandore, considered a safe haven as it was the native place of their queen Mandodari. He said about 200 families, believed to be descendents of Ravana and from 'Mudgal Gotra', still lives in Jodhpur district. About 110 familes stay in Jodhpur town and 70 other families live in nearby Phalodi. Kamlesh said Ravana is highly respected and revered in the region.

The temple is likely to be completed within the next six months and idols would be installed after consulting the nine planetary positions, making it the first such temple in north India.

South India is believed to have many temples dedicated to King Ravana, who is the main villain of the epic Ramayana.

He said many of Ravana's descendents initially settled in Mandore but later when Maharaja Jodha built the new capital Jodhpur, these people migrated to the basin area, known as Brahmapuri region.

Some of the desecendents of the demon king also migrated to Gujarat's Jamanagar, Bhuj and Kutch areas, he claimed.

UNI