Lord Rama's birthday celebrated with fervour and gaiety

New Delhi, Mar 27 (UNI) Ram Navami, the birthday of Lord Rama, was today celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety all over the country to the chants of 'Jai Sree Ram' and colourful serpentine Shobha Yatras.

The festival also marked the end of the nine-day Vasanthothsavam, or festival of Spring, that began with Ugadi.

In Delhi, public gatherings and satsangs were organised in several temples, while a Shobha Yatra, comprising of around 200 'jhankees' and 'kirtan mandalies', was carried out in the city.

In Jammu and Kashmir, about 300 Kashmiri Pandits celebrated Ram Navami in a temple at Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara.

As news spread that Kashmiri Pandits, who had migrated from the remote area to Jammu and other parts of the country in 1989 following militancy, were reaching, a large number of Muslims started cleaning the Badarkali temple, which remained virtually shut for all these years.

In Nashik, thousands of devotees celebrated the festival by taking a holy dip in the famous 'Ramkund' in Godavari river and visited the 'Kalaram Mandir' and other temples of Lord Rama.

Devotees chanted 'Jai Sree Ram' as serpentile 'julus' (procession) were taken out amid tight security that converged at downtown Elbert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi. The 'Chaitri Navaratri' culminated with various organisations in the past few days preparing in big ways to mark the birth of Lord Rama.

In Patna, devotees thronged the Hanuman Temple since last night to offer prayers to Lord Rama. In order to cope with the heavy rush of the devotees, the temple management was utilising the services of the priests from Ayodhya.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Governor R S Gavi have also greeted the people on the occasion.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal offered prayers and participated in a shobha yatra organised by Hind Samachar Group.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy offered silk clothes and pearls to Lord Rama and Sita to mark the occasion at the Ram Temple in Bhadrachalam in Khammam district.

In Tirupati, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) celebrated 'Sri Ramanavami' festival in temples of Lord Venkateswara and Sri Kodandarama Swamy. Earlier, in the day the idols of Lord Ram along with his consort Sita and brother Lakshman were placed in the 'Ranganayakulu mandapam' in the temple premises, where a 'holy bath' was performed by the temple priests.

The three idols of Ram, Sita and Lakshaman were taken in a procession on a chariot around the four mada streets around the temple between 1900 hrs and 2100 hrs.

Elaborate security arrangements had been made to prevent any untoward incident in Patna. Police teams had been deployed at important temples to ensure smooth celebration of the festival.

In Ranchi too, security forces had been deployed at every nook and corner and companies of Rapid Action force(RAF) and Special Task Forcec(STF) were also deployed in the sensitive areas.

In Hazaribagh, the most sensitive district, 1000 jawans from state police and home guards had been deployed besides three companies of STF, a company of women police force and a company of RAF.

Meanwhile, in Jamnagar, the festival was marred by stone pelting and setting ablaze of a shop in Lalpur, a village 35-km away. One person was arrested in this connection. According to police, trouble broke out in Lalpur over eve teasing of a girl by a youth from the other community.

In the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, in a shining example of communal harmony, Vijay Keshavrao Desosant, a descendant of a Hindu saint in Bhandara city, prays and makes an offering at the dargah of a Muslim saint before distributing the 'prasad' during the Ram Navami celebrations every year. The family has been following this tradition for the last 250 years.

UNI