Chief Minister Raghubar Das will be the one to slay the demon-king Ravana at the Ravan Dahan ceremony at Morabadi Ground. The highlight of the event is to be ground-based fireworks show to be presented by a team from West Bengal.
Ranchi chapter of Punjabi Hindu Biradari, the organising body of the event for the past 45 years, is finalising preparations for the Ravan Dahan ceremony. “The 65 feet high effigy of Ravan will be set alight by CM Raghubar Das. lok Sabha SP Ramtahal Choudhary will burn the effigy of Kumbkarna and Ranchi MlA CP Singh will do the same to Meghnad’s effigy, 60 feet and 55 feet high respectively. A 25ft by 25 ft replica of the golden lanka will also part of the programme,” informed Biradari’s National Vice President Rajesh Khanna.
Work on the gigantic figures of the demonic trio is being carried out by Gaya-based Mohammad Muslim and his team who have been doing the job for more 20 years now.
The ceremony will be illuminated with a fireworks show to be put up by teams from three states. The ground-based display by a West Bengal-based team of pyrotechnicians will be a new addition to the event.
“The task of fitting the three effigies with firecrackers has been assigned to a team from Bihar. The aerial fireworks show will be presented by Ranchi’s Zafar Shah. People usually turn up to enjoy fireworks and we expect these two to be major crowd-pullers this year,” Khanna said.
The cost of the 30 minute-long pyrotechnic show has been pegged at around Rs1.5 lakhs, with the estimated cost for the entire ceremony to go up to Rs5 lakhs.
These will accompanied by cultural performances by Sardar Sunny Singh’s bhangra team from Jamshedpur, and Chhau dance by performers from Puruliya West Bengal. The JAP band will also be part of the evening’s show.
The biggest Ravan Dahan ceremony of the city is estimated to register an increase in footfall. Khanna said, “Turnout last year exceeded half a lakh and we expect it to go up this year. As there will be no Ravan Dahan at HEC, we expect the crowd going there to be visit the remaining two Vijayadashmi celebrations, here at Morabadi Ground and another at Argora Ground. As per our guess, we will have more than two lakh visitors this year.”
Two fire engines and other security arrangements, like CCTV cameras and such, have been positioned at Morhabadi Ground to fend off any untowardly incident, Khanna said.
We will begin the ceremony from 3:00pm and the fireworks will begin will CM’s arrival, said Biradari’s president Mukul Taneja.