City sways in religious fervour in Ram Navami shobha yatras

Nagpur: Saffron surged from east to west with the city witnessing two shobha yatras organized by Shri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir on CA Road and Shri Ram Mandir, Ram Nagar.
The processions comprised devotees on foot, singing and dancing, walking ahead of the chariot on which idols of Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman were placed. Numerous floats on mythological and social themes also formed part of the procession.

At Poddareshwar Ram temple, where the procession is now in its 53rd year, the custom is that mayor of the city performs aarti before the yatra begins. But over the years, with the political heft the city has acquired, the entire political order is present to perform puja, abhishek and aarti.

On this Ram Navami too, besides the trustee of the temple Puneet Poddar, others present on the chariot included governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, MLA Sudharkarrao Deshmukh, MLC Girish Vyas, mayor Nanda Jichkar, and other BJP leaders.

The aarti was performed amid the blowing of conch and cries of Jai Shri Ram by the devotees who were wearing saffron caps and scarves. All those present on the chariot also offered garlands to the idols.

The procession which follows a 12-km route began with the devotees pulling the chariot with ropes and moved through various localities, including Hansapuri, Mominpura, Itwari, Shahid Chowk, Mahal, Cotton Market and culminated at Sitabuldi by 10pm. This year, there were 79 floats.

Celebrations were comparatively quieter at the Ram Mandir in west Nagpur. Here, Purohit was the chief guest. Fadnavis who has been performing puja here for years and also carries the palaki, made a hurried visit to the temple before the festivities began. Gadkari arrived around 5.30pm after which the puja began.

Devotees wearing saffron turbans and yellow kurta, carry the palaki which has footwear or paduka as a symbol, for the entire 8km long route of the procession.

Ram Nagar square wore a festive look with women drawing rangoli on the roads and pandals put up on the sidewalks which were serving water, prasad and other eatables. The folk artistss invited by SCZCC performed bhangara, phag and ghumar. But the traditional dhol taasha pathak which marks the beginning of the procession was missing this year.

The procession moved through major squares of west Nagpur and had many attractions like 36 floats, folk dancers and men dressed as various gods who were specially called from Rajasthan by SCZCC.