City celebrates as demon king burns

BATHINDA: Dasehra, marking the victory of good over evil, was celebrated with fervour in the city on Friday. People from different faiths were seen exchanging greetings since morning. The celebrations saw massive effigies of the demon king Ravana, his brother Kumbha Karan and son Meghnad going up in flames in various parts of the city around 6 pm. Residents came in large numbers to watch the event.

Effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbha Karan go up in flames at MSD School in Bathinda on Friday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 19

Dasehra, marking the victory of good over evil, was celebrated with fervour in the city on Friday.

People from different faiths were seen exchanging greetings since morning. The celebrations saw massive effigies of the demon king Ravana, his brother Kumbha Karan and son Meghnad going up in flames in various parts of the city around 6 pm. Residents came in large numbers to watch the event.

Effigies were burnt at the MSD School ground, SSD College ground, railway ground, NFL ground, Thermal Colony ground, Model Town Phase-1 and Partap Nagar ground.

SSD Mahabir Dal, Bathinda, celebrated Dasehra on the ground of MSD Group of Institutions, Hanuman Chowk.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal was the chief guest on the occasion. Rajan Garg, advocate, president of MSD Group, and director Suraj Setia welcomed all guests.

The chief guest hoisted the flag and greeted the people. Celebrations started with Dasehra Pooja performed by Chiranji Lal Garg, president SSD Mahabir Dal and other management members.

After Pooja and Tilak ceremony, students of MSD School and Lord Rama Public School recited Sri Ganesh Vandana.

Thereafter, a song was presented to welcome the chief guest. Afterwards, Sri Hanuman Chalisa was recited to seek blessings.

The participants performed a medley of religious, patriotic and cultural items. They also presented ‘Shiv Tandav’ and ‘Krishan Leela’. They also presented choreography on ‘Sita’ act.

Awards of appreciation were given to meritorious students in all fields by the chief guest. He appreciated their performance and advised them to learn from Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman.

Roads were crowded and roadsides encroached upon with parking of vehicles by commuters. Adding to the crowd were the roadside vendors. All this led to chaos on the city roads. Traffic policemen had a tough time regulating the traffic and controlling the crowd.

However, the organisers and policemen failed to prevent the youngsters from running towards the burning effigies to collect the partially-burnt woods as it is believed that these bring good fortune if kept at home.