Thousands of devotees witness Nati Imali’s Bharat Milap in Kashi

Varanasi: Amidst the chanting of 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Shri Ram', thousands of devotees witnessed the episode of reunion of Lord Ram and Lakshman with brothers Bharat and Shatrughna in the presence of the erstwhile Kashi Naresh Kunwar Anant Narayan Singh at Bharat Milap late on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier, the burning of effigies of demon king Ravan and the beginning of a series of immersions of idols of Goddess Durga on Saturday evening brought the Dussehra and Durga Puja celebrations to an end.
To witness the soulful reunion of Lord Ram with his beloved brother Bharat, people started occupying places in and around the historic Bharat Milap ground in the Nati Imli area by early afternoon. Before the arrival of the chariot and palanquin of Lord Ram, chaos prevailed when a stray cow entered the crowd. Due to this, Yadav Bandhus, who traditionally carry the palanquin known as Pushpak Viman, started running helter-skelter, and some barricades were also damaged.
To disperse the crowd from this point, security personnel waved canes, which annoyed the Yadav Bandhus. However, the intervention of elderly volunteers and the Ramleela Committee helped in bringing the situation to normal.
The excitement of the crowd reached its peak when dhoti and undershirt-clad 'Yadav Bandhus', with gamachhas on their heads, started reaching close to the Bharat Milap ground with the chariot boarding the children in the roles of Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman on their shoulders. It increased the enchantment of 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Sri Ram' by the people gathered in the streets and roads leading to the Bharat Milap ground.
The Nati Imli Bharat Milap is part of the famous Ramlila of Ramnagar, the capital town of the King of Kashi.
To see the 'Bharat Milap'—the enactment of the 'Ramcharitmanas' episode of the reunion of Lord Ram with his brothers after an exile of 14 years—Kashi Naresh reaches this ground annually on the next day of Vijayadashami.
Maintaining the same tradition, Kashi Naresh reached there with a fleet of beautifully decorated elephants and offered prayers following the completion of religious rituals by the priest, worshipping Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Lord Hanuman on the chariot. This was followed by the reunion of Lord Ram and Lakshman with their brothers Bharat and Shatrughna amidst the showering of flower petals. With this, the prominent annual Ramlila of the city came to an end.
Earlier, on Saturday, the city celebrated the festival of Dussehra with the burning of effigies of the demon king Ravana and his kin Kumbhakarna and Meghnad at the Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Chowkaghat, Maldahiya, and many other places in the city.
A series of processions for the immersion of idols of the goddess at the designated ponds also started on Saturday evening and continued on Sunday. Women in Bengali Durga Puja celebration venues also performed the tradition of Sindoor Khela.