The world famous Dhanu Yatra here ended on Thursday night with the death of king Kansa at the hands of lord Krishna and Balaram.
The mighty roaring king finally collapsed on the resplendent pandal of his Ranga Shabha marking the end of the 11-day-long Dhanu Yatra, billed as the biggest open air theatre of the world.
Kansa, after hearing ‘Daivi Bani’ (voice from the heaven) about his death and the killer, had taken all precautions to save his life from Bal Krishna.
Even he had gone to the extent of killing all the eight children of his sister Devaki, the mother of Krishna. But his death was pre-ordained. Finally, the scheming king rolled on the ladders of his huge pandal to finally fall silent after experiencing the omnipotence of the two divine kids. The end of the fest marked the victory of virtue over vice.
On the invitation of Kansa, the two brothers, Krishna and Balaram, had come to Mathura Nagari (Bargarh) for the Dhanu Yatra. Kansa was sure that he could kill the duo as he was unaware of their ‘divine power’ and relied more on his muscle power.
He also fought with them and lastly was killed. lord Krishna’s incarnation was meant to destroy all the evil forces. With the killing of Kansa, normalcy returned to Mathura. The citizens heaved a sigh of relief as the demon was gone. Popular king Ugrsena reoccupied the throne.
“Even if the Yatra is a repetition of the similar event every year, yet we feel it to be totally new every time. The experience of the Yatra is different and Krishna Bhakti is totally unique,” said Arati Mahapatra, a local.
With Kansa having been killed, the common citizens began to celebrate the moments. As a part of rejoicing, they blasted crackers.
Hrushikesh Bhoi, who performed the role of Kansa, repented for hatching plans to kill lord Krishan.
“My heart is with Krishna. But in Yatra, I just played the role of Kansa,” said Bhoi.