On Dussehra, when Ravana’s effigy, along with those of Meghnad and Kumbhkaran, is burnt across India with religious fervour, in this quaint town of Punjab, the king of Lanka is worshipped by locals, especially women and girls.This place is Payal in Ludhiana district, where a huge idol of Ravana stands tall, drawing women who believe that worshipping him protects them from the evil eye and keeps them safe.Rekha, one of the worshipers at the site, says that she feels Ravana is like a brother to her who provides her protection and whatever she wishes for. “Locals place immense trust in the idol. I have been worshipping the idol for the past over 18 years now. Many girls and women here not just worship Ravana, but also tie Rakhi on the wrist of this idol,” says Rekha. As a matter of fact, she admits, many women in the area don’t like it when effigies of Ravana are burnt across the country.She says that Dussehra is a festival in which Ravana is condemned and set ablaze across the country, but he was also a learned man and a great scholar. “So many ‘Ravanas’ roam around us everyday, who molest and rape innocent girls. It is they who should be punished,” she added. The girls here believe that their problems fade away when they worship this idol of Ravana.Another devotee says that decades ago, a resident dreamt of building a statue of Ravana in the area. The dream moved him so much that he eventually went ahead and built one, she says.Though “the family was condemned by all at that time”, the tradition of worshipping Ravana picked up.