Mumbai: Dassera celebration draws curtains on nine days of revelry

MUMBAI: The nine-day festival of Navratra comes to a close at Dassera Tuesday. Garba and Durga Puja festivities end with a flourish, following which idols of the Mother Goddess are led to water bodies for immersion.
The ten-day serialised Ramleela performance in Malad will peak amid a burst of fireworks after the 'Ravan dahan' episode ushers in the utopian Ram Rajya. Organiser Devkinandan Jindal of the Ramleela Prachar Samiti said, "A 35 ft tall effigy of Ravan will go up in flames.Approximately 5,000 spectators have been arriving each night. Of these, 3,500 people buy ten-rupee tickets and sit in chairs, the rest perch on compound walls and trees. They are overcome by emotion during the final exchange when Ravan, upon his deathbed, gives life lessons to Lakshman. The performance ends with Bharat Milap and Ram Tilak. We distribute prasad to the entire assembly."

A parallel Ramleela in Azad Maidan meanwhile, does not burn Ravan's effigy. "My grandfather who started this event believed that Ravan was a scholar who need not be dishonoured. So we end with his vadh (assassination) by Lord Ram," said organiser Sushil Mishra of the Maharashtra Ramleela Mandal. This programme ends by 7.30pm after which devotees line up to seek darshan of the "deities" in their makeshift Ram Darbar.

In Durga Puja pandals, Bengali women will indulge in the colourful sindoor khela ritual after a successful season. Aamra Prabashi in Hiranandani Estate, Thane, welcomed 15,000 visitors for bhog through saptami to navami, said president Samiran Biswas. Hemant Kumar's musical group performed here Monday. Raman Pandit of the Vikhroli Bengali Association said they celebrated by donating food to a children's orphanage each day. SaReGaMa artiste Marjuri Ganguly performed at navami. Meanwhile, Kalyan's oldest 55-year-old Puja organised by the Bangiya Sanskritik Parishad at Adharwadi drew thousands of pandal hoppers, said spokesman Pradyut Mitra.

Garba dance venues wound down Monday with Kora Kendra, Borivli, as well as NESCO Goregaon drawing large crowds owing to the midnight extension for loudspeakers. Ganesh Naidu of Kora Kendra said, "Despite recession and inflation, we managed to draw a full house. We started early and kept ticket prices at a modest Rs 450 per day because Falguni Pathak's venue nearby also reduced rates." Borivli has four reputed Navratra celebrations, each vying for footfalls.