Srinagar: Many people on Saturday turned up to see effigies of demon Ravan, his brother Kumbhkarana and son Meghnad go into flames among bursting of firecrackers at TRC ground in Srinagar to mark the festival of Dussehra.
According to Hindu mythology, this festival symbolises triumph of good over evil and it marks the culmination of the nine-day long Navratri festival.
Three huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath were put up at the TRC ground by the organizers and were burnt to ashes amid bursting of the firecrackers. Several of people, mainly Muslims, watched effigies of the demons go down. Many recorded the events in their mobile phones.
Tight security arrangements were put in place by the police and the CRPF at the venue for smooth conduct of the event.
It was after two decades in 2007 that Dussehra was celebrated in Kashmir Valley but the mass uprising eventually triggered by the government order to transfer 800 kanals of forestland to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board ‘forced’ the organizers to rescind its programme in next year (2008). It was organized again in 2009 but it could materialize in 2010 due the unrest which led to killing of over 100 persons allegedly in police and paramilitary CRPF action. Later it was arranged again.
Prior to the mass exodus of the Kashmir Pandits in early nineties, Dussehra was celebrated annually.
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