Dussehra 2023 LIVE: Anti-terrorist Measures Taken, Bags Inside Ramlila Shows Banned, Say Delhi Cops; Amit Shah's Lunch at Gujarat Temple

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of a sports complex in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.

Shah later visited the Bahuchar Mata Temple to offer his prayers, after which he also had lunch in the temple’s dining area, sitting among other devotees present there.

The Odisha Police have detained 26 people, including five women, for allegedly being involved in snatching gold chains, mobile phones and other valuables during the Durga Puja festival in Bhubaneswar.

Patrolling at various puja pandals in Saheed Nagar, Khandagiri, Mancheswar, Nayapalli and Laxmisagar areas of the state capital was stepped up and 26 suspected snatchers were detained, the office of Bhubaneswar DCP said in a statement.

Eight mobile phones and Rs 7,000 in cash have been recovered from the possession of the detainees, the police said.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy extended Dussehra greetings to the people of the state.

The chief minister on Tuesday said Vijayadashami is symbolic of the day when good wins over evil. “With that same spirit, I wish that you all should keep winning with the blessings of Goddess Durga. Happy Vijaya Dasami to all the Telugu people,” said Reddy in a post on X.

The Mysuru Dasara celebrations are underway with great pomp and show in the city. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the erstwhile King of Mysuru is also taking part in the festivities.

Calling cultural Marxists and ‘woke’ elements selfish, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said these people are using their influence in media and academia to spoil India’s education and culture. He also recalled the horrors of India’s partition in 1947, and said the event left a “deep rooted hurt.”

Addressing the annual RSS Dussehra rally in in Reshimbagh area of Nagpur, Bhagwat said some anti-social people call themselves cultural Marxists or woke but they have forgotten Marx.

Noted singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan also attended the programme and hailed the contribution of RSS towards the nation, its culture, traditions and preservation of the ideology of “Akhand Bharat”.

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Women participate in the ‘sindoor khela’ tradition at the Durga Puja pandal in Delhi’s CR Park.

Talking about the tradition of initiating kids into education on Vijayadashami, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said, “,..Today is Vijayadashami… This is a day on which we initiate young children into education. This is a culture where we worship alphabets as gods and goddesses. We make sure that they get initiated into a new regime of education through this process of worshipping knowledge as gods. This is done by gurus. They initiate them into the educational process…I am really happy to be part of this journey of our culture to do the same thing for the next generation, which I got from my grandparents and gurus in the past…”

The ‘Vajramushti Kalaga’, an attraction at Mysuru Dasara celebrations, is underway in the Karnataka region.

Effigies of Ravan, Meghanad and Kumbhkaran with posters reading ‘Sanatan Dharma Opposers Will Be Crumbled into Fragments’ have been installed at Delhi’s Red Fort ground for Dussehra.

The Uttar Pradesh Police have drawn up an elaborate security plan for Durga idol immersion and Dussehra across the state.

As many as 100 companies of PAC and five companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) will be deployed in different parts of the state depending on the need.

A company each of CAPF will also be deployed in sensitive districts of the state, including Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Mau and Gorakhpur.

The deployment will continue till Wednesday.

Special DGP (Law and order) Prashant Kumar said that no permission has been given for installation of new Durga Puja pandals and Ravana on Dussehra in the districts.

Noted singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan on Tuesday hailed the contribution of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) towards the nation, its culture, traditions and preservation of the ideology of “Akhand Bharat”.

“What can I say on it? I only salute you. The contribution of the RSS is greater than anyone in preserving our ideology of ‘Akhand Bharat,’ our traditions, our culture,” he said.

He recounted his meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Mumbai, describing it as a fulfilling experience and expressed his gratitude for the warm invitation.

“I am more proud of being a Bharatiya Nagrik (Indian citizen) today,” he said.

Mahadevan also urged people to contribute to the nation-building through remarkable work in their respective fields.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated Vijayadashami with the jawans at Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang and also interacted with them.

Singh said, “You have kept the borders secure and that is why India’s stature before the world is rising rapidly. All the developed countries accept the reality that in the past 8-9 years, India’s stature has risen. I would like to clearly say that under the leadership of PM Modi, if India’s stature has risen, India has made economic developments, it indeed is important but had you not kept the country’s border secure – this stature would not have been possible…”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performed Shashtra Puja at Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang on Vijayadashami.

After the puja, he said, “I came here four years ago but I wanted to be among the brave jawans once again on #VijayaDashami and extend them heartiest greetings on the occasion. So, I am here among you…”

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, while extending his Vijayadashami wishes said, “It’s a special occasion ‘Vidyarambham’. All of India celebrates Dussehra Vijayadashami but in Kerela, Vijayadashami day is a day when the initiation of learning happens so it’s the job of elders to teach children how to write. I teach the kids who come in three languages, we put grains of rice on a platter and with their fingers we trace, so I do ‘Om Hari Sri’ in Sanskrit, in Malayalam and in English…”

Union Minister Anurag Thakur offered his prayers to Maa Jwala Devi at Jwali Ji Temple in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra.

“…I extend greetings to the countrymen on Vijayadashami. At Maa Jwala Ji Temple, I would like to pray that our country keep going forward, Himachal Pradesh also keep progressing and the blessings of Maa Jwala be with all of us…Greetings to everyone on Dussehra,” Thakur said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his prayers at Gorakhpur’s Gorakhnath Temple on the occasion of Vijayadashami.

Three people, including two women and a five-year-old boy were killed, while several others were injured in a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Bihar’s Gopalganj district. The incident happened at the crowded pandal in Raja Dal locality of the town on Monday, SP Swarna Prabhat said.

He said devotees had lined up to receive prasad’ when the child fell down and two elderly women bent down to protect him from getting crushed. “The ensuing commotion left 13 women and the child injured. They were rushed to the Sadar hospital. The boy and the two elderly women died. The rest were said to be out of danger,” Prabhat said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to microblogging site X and extended his Vijayadashami greetings to everyone.

Best wishes to my family members across the country on Vijayadashami. This holy festival brings the message of ending negative forces as well as adopting goodness in life. Wishing you all a Happy Vijaya Dashami!” he wrote.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said, “Victimhood mentality has to be shunned. There is no victim.”

“The distrust towards each other will have to be given away. Politics works on competition. They divide so many can stand behind them,” he said.

Bhagwat also said that, “This is not an image correction exercise. Those is a call of love. Those who can hear this, that will see welfare. I don’t know what will happen to those who don’t hear it,” adding that Ambedkar has also given the same message.

“Language of love is different from language of hate. You have to be powerful and make friends. Friendship and love doesn’t mean submission,” the RSS chief said adding that this is not a signal to just one side, but to all the sides.

“Swadeshi Has to Begin From Home. Prashna Bahutse, Uttar Ke,” he said while concluding his address.

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat while addressing the customary gathering at the RSS Vijayadashami Utsav said, “Cultures like ours celebrate diversity. It connects us. It says you aren’t alone. The community is with you… It extends to the entire wishwa. Vasudhaiva kutumbakam. He vishwachi maze ghar.”

“Hum rahe na rahe, Bharat ye rehna chahiye. This is applicable to everyone, irrespective of caste, creed,” Bhagwat said.

Rashtra unity is because of mutual love, and not a ‘give and take’ attitude,” he said adding that people have to keep the love within themselves. “People feelt hurt, Partition too has deep rooted hurt, but we have to keep calm, irrespective of the situation,” he said. “Only then there will be unity, and everything will be fine.”