And Quiet go the Festive Flames- Normal turnout for Dussehra

Dussehra celebrations on Thursday saw a maximum crowd come out to see the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad being set ablaze. Firecrackers lit up the Delhi sky at sundown, as families watched under heavy police cover. The Ramlilas had seen a smaller turnout for the first nine days following the blasts last month.

Satish Verma, joint military secretary of the Indraprastha Volunteer Board, said more than 80,000 people had come to see the final day of the Ramlila. “Today we saw a normal turnout, a turnout that we have come to expect at the Shri Dharmik Lila grounds. The last few days had seen a sharp drop in footfall.” The grounds saw a high security cover as political figures such as Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna among others came to see the Dussehra celebrations.

Prabhat Dayal brought his three-year-old son especially to see the Ramlila procession that winds through the Chandni Chowk, Nai Sarak and Sitaram Bazar area before reaching the Ramlila grounds. “The savari is an integral part of the Ramlila experience in Old Delhi,” he said.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit:
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2008/10/10/index.shtml