Ramleela and Dussehra festival’s Ravan Dahan is among the most memorable festivities for a lot of Indian Australians.
Annual Dussehra festivities at Sri Durga Mandir in Melbourne will be held on Sunday 9th October. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the grand celebrations at the temple premises. The festivities will begin with traditional rituals and conclude with fireworks and Ravan Dahan at 8 pm.
Dussehra is an annual Hindu festival celebrated across the world to signify the victory of good over evil, symbolised by the slaying of the demon King Ravan at the hands of the Hindu God Sri Ram.
Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashami is one of the biggest festivals observed by the Hindu community. It is celebrated at the end of Navratri, on account of which the date changes every year. Under the Hindu calendar’s month of Kartik, this festival will be observed on the 10th day of this month.
Every year Indian Australian community has enjoyed Sr Durga Mandir’s Ravan Dehan and Ramleela, however, due to the pandemic last two years were low-key festivities.
Kulwant Joshi is the President of the Sri Durga Mandir management committee.
He told The Australia Today, “With no restriction after two years, we are ready to welcome all devotees and make them immerse in traditional food, music and different performances.”
“Our Ramleela is derived in such a way by fantastic volunteer artists to educate the new generation Hindu kids about their culture,”
added Mr Joshi.
Mr Joshi quips, “Young children are the ones who will be the happiest to attend Dussehra festival as rides, food and lots of games are there to keep them engaged.”
This year, the temple committee has made substantial preparations for crowds to congregate and park their cars as almost 18,000 people are expected to attend the festivities throughout the day.
Mr Joshi says, “We have made extensive arrangements for car parking, however, we request everyone to follow the directions of traffic controllers for convenient entry and exit.
The Star of the festival will be a giant cut-out effigy of Ravan, which will be burned as a symbol of evil. This will be followed by extensive fireworks displaying colours of hope, success and prosperity.
