Kota Ravan Dahan 2026: Time, 105-ft Ravan and How to Watch Live

Kota’s Ravan Dahan is on Tuesday 20 October 2026, Vijayadashami. It is the one evening of the 26-day Rashtriya Dussehra Mela when the whole city heads for the same ground at the same time, and the evening most people mean when they search for “Kota Ravan Dahan time”. This page collects what the organiser, Kota Nagar Nigam, has published about the day and what the effigy builders have said, and marks what has not been announced as of 11 October 2026.

The sequence on 20 October

The published programme gives two fixed points. At 5:00 pm the procession (savari) of Shri Laxminarayan ji leaves Garh Palace, the old city palace of the Kota rulers, for Dussehra Maidan. When it reaches the ground, the Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad effigies are lit at the muhurat, followed by fireworks.

No clock time for the dahan has been released. Three reference points help. In 2025 the remote ignition came at 8:38 pm. A Patrika photo report from an earlier year gave a dahan muhurat of 7:21 to 7:41 pm, with the actual lighting about an hour late. And one panchang listing puts Kota’s Vijay Muhurat for Vijayadashami 2026 at 2:06 to 2:52 pm; that is the afternoon ritual window from a single source, not the time the effigy is lit, which comes after dark once the procession has entered the ground. Plan around the two recorded data points, 7:21 pm (muhurat, earlier year) and 8:38 pm (2025 ignition), and watch the organiser’s channels on the day.

The route is published only as start and end. In past years the parallel Bharat Milap and shobha yatra route has run Kaithunipol chauraha, Tipta, Garh Palace, Kishorepura Darwaza and into Dussehra Maidan; the full 2026 route of the Laxminarayan ji savari has not been released. The procession follows a morning of religious functions at the palace. In 2025 an elephant carrying the Lakshmi Narayan idol went out of control after the Jalwa Pujan ritual and hit barricades; nobody was hurt, but it is a reason to give the procession room.

The 2026 Ravan: more than 105 feet, and it moves

This year’s Ravan stands more than 105 feet tall. The novelty is not height but movement: the head rotates a full 360 degrees, one arm swings a sword, the moustache twitches and the eyes blink. Special fireworks are fitted inside for the dahan. The effigy was expected to be ready by 10 or 11 October, so it stands on the ground through the first nine days of the fair before it burns. Kumbhkaran and Meghnad are about 70 feet each, taller than the 60-foot pair of the last two years.

Who builds it and what goes in

The lead artisan is Aamir Khan of Ghaziabad, whose family has made effigies for generations and who has built Kota’s Ravan every year since 2019. His team comes from Delhi-NCR. The published material list for 2026: about 5 tonnes of iron for the frame, about 500 bamboo poles, about 1,500 metres of velvet cloth, 300 kg of twine (sutli), about 2 quintals of rope, imported waterproof paper, and 1 to 2 quintals of maida-based glue. The cost of the 2026 effigies has not been published; the 2025 effigy contract was Rs 44 lakh.

Why 2026 is smaller than 2025

Last year Kota went for a record. The 2025 Ravan was planned at 215 feet and measured 221.5 feet by Nagar Nigam agencies (one post-event report said 233 feet). It was built by Tejendra Chauhan of Ambala with a 25-member team over four months, used 10.5 tonnes of steel in a 13.5-tonne structure, 4,000 metres of velvet and a 25-foot fibreglass face, and needed a 220-tonne crane brought from Indore to stand it up. Kumbhkaran and Meghnad were 60 feet. The organisers claimed Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records entries; certification was not confirmed in the reports available.

The burn did not go to plan. Remote ignition at 8:38 pm, in the presence of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lit the effigy, but the flames died within minutes and more than half of it stood intact. A hydraulic fire engine sprayed diesel on it, the structure was unbolted and lowered with a backhoe, and it finally burnt out by 2:30 am, about six hours after the first spark. Kumbhkaran’s face never caught; only Meghnad burnt fully. The 2026 decision to come down to 105 feet and put the effort into animation and finish follows directly from that night.

Where the effigies stand

For years the Ravan stood in front of Vijayshree Rangmanch, the cultural stage. In June 2025 the Nagar Nigam moved the dahan site to the right side of the ground, near the kachchi (temporary) shops, and set a clear circle of more than 250 feet around the effigy. That was the arrangement for the 221.5-foot Ravan. A separate site announcement for 2026 has not been reported as of 11 October; the 2025 layout is the latest published one. Expect a cordon in any case; the exact circle for 2026 is not published.

Arrow or remote

Kota’s older tradition is “Ravan vadh”, a slaying rather than a burning, and the ceremonial act belongs to the former royal family: a representative shoots an arrow at the effigy. In 2024 ex-MP Ijyaraj Singh shot the arrow at the 80-foot Ravan, with Om Birla as chief guest. In 2025 the record-size effigy was lit by remote control. How the 2026 Ravan will be lit, and who will be on the dais, has not been announced.

Where to stand and when to arrive

• Be inside the ground before the procession arrives. The savari leaves Garh Palace at 5:00 pm; from then on the approaches fill up. Arriving in daylight also gives you the effigies with the sky still lit.
• Stand outside the cordon with the effigy against the darkening sky, not behind it against the stage lights. The head rotates, so a spot squarely facing the face at ignition is not guaranteed; the whole figure is the show.
• Fireworks are fitted inside the effigy. Keep children at your side or on your shoulders; ash and sparks drift downwind, so check which way the breeze is blowing when you choose a spot.
• Expect the dahan to run later than any time you read. In 2025 the burn itself went on past midnight. Plan the trip home for late evening and do not promise anyone a specific hour.
• Phone networks slow down in the crowd. Agree a meeting point before you split up.

For the route in from Kota Junction, the parking stands used last year and hotels within reach, kotaguide.com has reaching the ground, parking and crowd tips. For the evening temperature and what to carry, kotaweather.com has the forecast for 20 October.

How to watch Kota Ravan Dahan live

If you are not in Kota, or not at the ground, these are the options that have worked in past years.

• Kota Nagar Nigam’s official social media accounts. The organiser posts the procession and the dahan on its own pages; look for the verified account of the municipal corporation rather than fan pages that reuse the name.
• Rajasthan regional news channels and their YouTube channels. Hindi news outlets covering Rajasthan report the dahan on the night; in 2025 the coverage ran through to the early hours as the effigy was brought down.
• Search terms that work on the night: “kota ravan dahan live”, “kota dussehra mela live” and the Hindi “कोटा रावण दहन लाइव”. Results dated 20 October 2026 are the ones you want; uploads from 2024 and 2025 rank high for weeks afterwards.

We do not link to a specific stream because none has been announced by the organiser as of 11 October 2026. This section will be updated when one is.

Not announced as of 11 October 2026

• Clock time of the dahan.
• Ignition method and chief guests.
• Full procession route.
• Cost of the 2026 effigies.
• Whether the dahan site stays where it was moved in 2025.
• Crowd management, the parking plan and any entry arrangement for the evening.

For the rest of the fair, the 2026 fair’s dates and essentials are on the event page and the day-by-day schedule lists every evening from 11 October to 5 November. For why Kota says “Ravanji” and shoots an arrow rather than simply lighting a match, read the Ravanji tradition and the fair’s princely history. explorekota.com covers vantage points and photo moments along the procession at Hathi Pol and Garh Palace.