New Delhi: On the evening of Dussehra, all devotees will cheer at the annual event of Ravana Dahan or the effigy burning of the ten-headed demon king Ravana. We all know him from the epic Ramayan as the king of Lanka and kidnapper of Lord Ram’s wife Mata Sita. It ultimately led to his death at the hands of Lord Ram, and Dussehra is the celebration of this event, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. But many will be surprised to know that his original home wasn’t Lanka but India.

A great scholar, a master of Vedic wisdom and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, Ravana was born at Bishrakh in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida West. This place is roughly 650 kilometres from Lord Ram’s birthplace, Ayodhya. Bishrakh village is named after Ravana’s father, Vishrava. It has a temple, called Ravan

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