Every September, roughly 25 days before the spectacular celebrations of Dussehra, a team of artists from the north of India move lock, stock, and barrel to Mumbai. These are Muslim karigars who barely pick up a brush for most of the year, but have been trusted for generations to build Mumbai’s Ravans at a workshop in Sion. Back home, in Noida and Dadri (Uttar Pradesh), these artisans usually have other jobs or run small businesses for much of the year, but generations of expertise that goes into making these effigies that light up Mumbai during our celebration of the triumph of good over evil.

Hafizuddin Ahmad’s team is working to finish eight effigies for this year’s Dussehra