UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice President Hamid Ansari witnessed the burning of the effigy of Ravana, a symbol of evil, to mark the celebration of Dussehera on Thursday at Subhash Maidan near the historic Red Fort. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lt.Governor Tejendra Khanna and union communications minister Kapil Sibal were also present. Sitting at an embellished dais, the leaders watched the great spectacle of fireworks and the burning of effigies of Meghnad and Kumbhkaran, before the demon-king was himself set alight.
Earlier, the leaders showered flowers on the actors, who played the lead characters of Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman. The festival coincided with the last day of Durga Puja, when goddess Durga received a warm farewell from earth as she returned to her celestial abode.
Sonia Gandhi, who made her second public appearance after her recovery from an undisclosed ailment, looked relaxed in a burgundy red cotton sari embellished with Bengali “tangail” motifs of “botis (circular motifs)” and “mangoes”. Shei performed a traditional Indian "aarti" and put ceremonial vermillion marks on the foreheads of the main actors. In north India, Dussehera also marks the conclusion of Navratras. While there was fasting and feasting during Navratra, crowds also thronged Ramlila venues.
Ramlila, plays based on the life of Ram, is enacted at numerous places in north India to show his journey as a prince, his 14-year exile in the forest, his wife Sita's abduction by Ravana, the king of Lanka, and the war fought to rescue her. Apart from the main Ramlila grounds near Red Fort in Delhi, effigies of all sizes of the trio, dotting grounds across the capital and in many parts of north India, went up in flames at dusk.
This article is posted by pressbrief.in
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