Ravana in Haryana towers 195 feet

Barara (Haryana)  :  When thousands of Ravana effigies go up in flames Wednesday, the 195-feet Ravana here will dwarf all others in India.

The Ravana structure in Barara town in Haryana’s Ambala district had last year entered the Limca Book of Records with a height of 185 feet.

The Ramlila committee at Barara, 80 km from Chandigarh, has now approached the Guinness Book of World Records for getting the 195-feet structure enlisted as the tallest Ravana in the world.

“A team of over 100 people have worked very hard in the last few weeks to prepare the Ravana,” committee president Tejinder Singh Chauhan said.

The Barara Ravana, built at a cost of Rs.15 lakh, will go up in smoke Wednesday.

Over 100 quintals of paper, 30 quintals of iron pipes and 10 quintals of clothes were used to make it. It weighs around four tonnes (4,000 kg). The sword held by the Ravana itself is 48 feet long.

“The height from the knees to the shoulder is over 85 feet,” an artisan at the site said.

The town had its share of limelight for the first time when it erected a 150-feet tall Ravana structure. Since then, every year, the committee has been increasing the height.

The 2009 Ravana, at 175 feet, entered the Limca Book of Records.

“Every year we get artisans from Uttar Pradesh to make the tallest Ravana,” Chauhan said. “To erect it requires cranes, and it is a difficult job.”