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Nagpur's Ravan Makers: Inside the Binwar Family's Fiery Craft

Binwar family artisans making a giant Ravan effigy with bamboo, paper and paint in Vidarbha
The Binwar family prepares a giant handcrafted Ravan effigy for Dussehra in Vidarbha.

Every October, weeks before the crowds gather for Dussehra, a quiet corner of old Nagpur turns into an open-air workshop. Bamboo poles stack up in narrow lanes, paint tins line the walls, and giant heads taller than the workers themselves take shape piece by piece.


This annual scene, repeated for decades in the Mahal area, belongs largely to one family whose surname has become inseparable from the festival across Vidarbha.


The Binwars story is not one of a single artisan or a single event but of a family trade passed down and expanded across generations.


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Family Roots in Nagpur's Mahal Area


The Binwar family is not documented through any formal archive or museum record. Their history survives instead through repeated mentions in local newspapers and interviews given around Dussehra each year.


The same set of locations comes up again and again in these reports. Gandhi Gate, Mahal, the old city lanes, Kadbi Chowk and Kasturchand Park.

The names of family members also recur, although spellings shift from one report to another. Hemraj appears as Binwar in most accounts and as Binewar in at least one local report.


Arjun Singh Binwar was named the family spokesperson during one period of coverage. By 2025, it was Khemkaran Binwar who spoke to reporters as the person overseeing the city's largest seasonal build.


A photo archive from September 2017 also places another family member, Amar Binwar, working at Gandhi Gate, which confirms that the craft has always involved several hands from the same family rather than a single individual.


This spread of names across different years and different parts of the city points to a working method built around family units, each responsible for a share of the season's orders. The reporting does not present a tidy family tree, but it does present a consistent picture of multiple brothers, cousins and successive generations, all working from the same base in Mahal, all tied to the same seasonal trade.


How Long the Craft Has Been Recorded


The earliest detailed account of the family's history comes from Hemraj Singh Binwar himself, in a 2016 interview with a local publication.


He said his ancestors had made statues and papier-mache images for the Bhonsale royal family, tying the family's craft to a much older tradition of image-making in the region.

He described a turning point in 1952, when a lecturer from Punjab approached him to build a 40-foot Ravan. That first large effigy stood at Ravi Nagar Grounds before the venue moved to Kasturchand Park a few years later to accommodate bigger crowds.


The family's public effigy-making work spans six to seven decades. The precise starting point rests on family testimony rather than a documented source, but the scale of coverage across the years leaves little doubt that the Binwars have been central to this craft in Nagpur for a very long time.


In 2015, Arjun Singh Binwar said that he had orders for 22 effigies ranging from 15 to 75 feet, while his brother Hemraj said he had a further 20 orders that same year.


By 2017, the family had made 16 figures, with other relatives handling the rest. In 2018, Hemraj said the wider family was making around 40 effigies and taking orders from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other parts of Vidarbha.


Inside the Workshop: Materials and Building Process


The effigies that appear finished and dramatic on Dussehra evening are the result of months of preparation that few outside the trade ever see.


In 2025, work on the main Kasturchand Park structure began as early as 1 June. The family describe orders being placed two to three months before the festival. The scale of these builds means the figures are never made whole in one location. Heads, limbs and body sections are built separately in the workshop, then transported and assembled at the festival ground itself, sometimes with the help of cranes for the largest structures.

The materials used explain why this remains a skilled craft rather than a standardised production process. Bamboo, cardboard, old newspapers, rope, cloth, dyes, clay, wood, grass, twigs, burlap sacks, art paper and floral sheets are used. The bamboo used for the frame is sourced from Balaghat or Seoni, since local bamboo is not considered strong enough for the job.


The art paper comes from Delhi. The process of building the effigies in separate pieces before final assembly at the site


The visual design of each effigy is treated as seriously as its structure. People come specifically to see the craft on display, so the family tries to give each year's figure a different look.

Because Ravan was a king in the story, the effigies need to look majestic, with different colours used across the ten heads to create distinct expressions.


By 2018, the family had begun using fluorescent colours that would show up clearly after dark, with social messages painted onto the skirts of the figures.


Why the Binwar Name Still Matters in Nagpur


The continued relevance of the Binwar family comes from the point where a private, family-run workshop turns into a shared public event.


Organising committees and festival grounds may change from year to year, but the most recognisable figures at Nagpur's Dussehra celebrations keep tracing back to the same Binwar family workshop network based in Mahal.

The family receives orders from various towns, including Katol, Kondhali, Wardha, Ramtek, Saoner, Yavatmal and Amravati, along with orders from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.


Binwar-made effigies at Kasturchand Park, Chitnis Park, Reshimbagh, Quetta Colony, Saoner, Devri, Shivni and Wani are a regular sight.


This spread shows a craft that is based in one small part of the city but reaches across the wider Vidarbha region each festival season.


There is also something unusual about a craft built entirely around objects designed to be destroyed.


Most traditional crafts are remembered through objects that survive, such as pottery, weaving, and carving. The Binwars are remembered for structures that are deliberately burned within minutes of being completed.

The public generally only sees the final moments, the lighting of the fire and the collapse of the structure. What goes unseen is the weeks of tying bamboo frames, layering paper, mixing colours and moving oversized sections through the city streets to the festival ground.


The Binwar family + name stays attached to Nagpur's Dussehra season not because any single effigy survives, but because the work returns each year, built again from nothing, before the old year's structure has even finished turning to ash.


FAQs


Q: Who is the Binwar family and what are they known for in Nagpur?

A: The Binwar family is a group of artisans based in Mahal, Nagpur, known for building large Ravan effigies for Dussehra celebrations across the city and wider Vidarbha region, a practice traced back by family accounts to 1952.


Q: What materials are used to build the Ravan effigies in Nagpur?

A: The effigies are built using bamboo frames, cardboard, old newspapers, rope, cloth, dyes, clay, wood, grass, twigs, burlap sacks, art paper and floral sheets, with bamboo often sourced from Balaghat or Seoni.

Q: How much does it cost to build a large Ravan effigy in Nagpur?

A: Costs have risen over the years from around Rs 2,500 per foot in 2015 to structures costing several lakhs of rupees by 2025, depending on the height and decorative detail involved.


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About the Author

Pranay Arya is the founder and editor of The News Dirt, an independent journalism platform focused on ground-level reporting across Vidarbha. He has authored 800+ research-based articles covering public issues, regional history, infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic developments, building one of the region’s most extensive digital knowledge archives.

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