No Dussehra celebrations, no gold selling in Baijnath town of Himachal Pradesh

DHARAMSHALA

: There is a community ban on Dussehra celebrations and selling gold in Baijnath town of Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, neither does this town burn the effigy of Ravana nor does it accommodate shops that sell gold. The custom is followed by the villagers to avoid bad luck.

The fact of the matter is that this town has a famous temple of lord shiva where Ravana had worshiped and received special powers.

“Ravana was a sincere devotee and had worshipped Lord Shiva here. Shiva was appeased and blessed him with a special power. So it is believed that burning his effigy would bring bad luck for the people here," said Munish Kumar, 36, a resident of this town.

“People here don’t buy sweets on this day and remain aloof from the celebrations. It is believed that lord Shiva will get disappointed as Ravana was his true devotee,” he added.

“Similarly, people do not pursue their gold business in Baijnath as it is said that it will bring bad luck,” said Kapil Verma, a local business man in Paprola.

Paprola is a nearby town to Baijnath where all the goldsmiths are running their businesses. Many are the residents of Baijnath but they don’t work in their home town.

It is also believed that Lord Shiva hates gold and Ravana's Lanka was made of gold, which reflects a disagreement between the god and his devotee.

Residents believe that disobeying this belief would incur the wrath of Shiva.

Ghanshyam Sharma, a priest in temple of Baijnath said that they have heard of their ancestors that some people in the town had tried to celebrate Dussehra.

“They burned the effigy of Ravana according to the tradition. But deaths of young family members took place and their business was ruined before the next Dussehra,” he said.