Evil was vanquished by good in tune with the tradition of the Dussehra going on for millennia in the land that has been begetting world-renouncing saints, embodying dharma and emancipation of the soul from the snare of the senses that Adahrma personifies.
Thousands who gathered at Parade Ground in Dehradun on Tuesday evening were enthralled, seeing the spectacle of the tall effigies of the demon king Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghnad, representing the arrogance born of power and pelf, going to flames, marking the vijay of Dharma which Rama represents.
“We come here every year along with my parents, wife and children. The thrill we feel while viewing the effigies being torched, marking the triumph of good over evil, remains the same. This is perhaps because of the fact that the event nudges our deeper soul where the good reigns supreme. India is great because she points to the soul living deep within us while asking us to shed the superficial that loves to crawl in the filth of the senses,” Rajesh Bist, a teacher from Sahaspur, said.
The people who gathered in the sprawling ground erupted in delight as the effigies of the demon trio were lighted at 6. 05 pm. Explosions were heard from within the effigies as they were loaded with explosives. The children looked the most excited. Suman Semwal, a resident of Adhoiwala, who came along with his eight-year-old son Aman and other family members, said the excitement that the event threw could hardly wane with time.
“I used to be excited when I came with my parents. Now, my son is feeling the thrill in the same measure. The tradition of the Ravana Dahan continues from generation to generation, something that proclaims that the Dharma India personifies is eternal, defying time and the things happening to her by way of technological innovation. I bought bows and arrows for my son. His face brightened up as he had them as I used to be thrilled when my parents gave the same to me when I was a child,” he said. The ground was chock-a-block with people who came from places far and near. like the previous years, a mela came up in tune with the largeness of the gathering. The effigies were burnt too at Tapkeshwar, Chuna Bhatta, Patelnagar, Premnagar and some other places in the city in the presence of thousands.
Earlier in the day, religious processions were taken out to mark the occasion. It started from Gopinath temple, snaked through several intersections, including luniya Mohalla, Paltan Bazar, Rujpur Road, Quality Chowk and Rajpur Road, and finally ended at Parade Ground.
The administration has made elaborate three-tier security arrangements with the deployment of additional forces at Parade Ground. Dehradun DM Ravinath Raman, SSP Sadanand Shankar Rao Date, SP City Ajay Singh and other administrative and police officers were seen on an active mode at the ground, trying their best to clear the mess of huge pileup. Among the dignitaries present at Parade Ground were Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal, MlAs Harbans Kapoor, Ganesh Joshi and Rajkumar, Garhwal Commissioner Vinod Sharma and others.