The city is all set to celebrate Ram Navami with religious fervour. Shri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir will organise its annual grand shobhayatra through the city on April 6 to mark the occasion. This will be the 59th year of the Shobha yatra.

 

The grand Shobha Yatra will feature almost 90 floats on various themes by various organisations along with ‘Ramlala Rath’ carrying idols of Lord Ram, Sita, Laksman, and Lord Hanuman. The main rath of the procession, ‘Rameshwar Rath’, made by renowned artist Dhanraj Patekar, will provide a glimpse of Shri Ramlala consecrated at Ayodhya last year. The rath will be pulled by the devotees during the shobhayatra.

 

Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghachalak, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS); Nitin Gadkari, union Minister for Highways and Road Transport; Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of the state; Banwarilal Purohit, former Governor of Punjab; and Chandrashekhar Bawankule, State Revenue Minister and Guardian Minister of the district will be prominently present at the start of the shobhayatra.

 

Along with the floats, the grand shobhayatra will feature dancing troops presenting dances representing various cultures in the society, including Chej, Garba, Korku Chitkora, and Jhanda dances. Some unique dance form, like sketing dance, will also be part of the procession. The main rath will be led by 108 girls carrying ‘kalash’ in similar traditional wear.

 

The procession that will start at 4 pm from Shri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir is expected to pass through Itwari Shahid Chowk at 6 pm, Mahal at 7.30 pm, Cotton Market at 9 pm, and Sitabuldi at 10 pm before concluding at Shri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir. About 2,000 volunteers wearing white traditional wear, saffron caps and identity cards will coordinate the smooth conduct of the shobhayatra. The path of the shobhayatra will be decorated with rangolis, lighting and gates erected by various organisations welcoming the procession. The whole shobhayatra will be telecast live on local television channels.

 

At the onset, the celebration will begin with ‘Mangal Arti’ and ‘Abhishek Pujan’ at 4 am at the Shri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir, followed by ‘Shehnai Wadan’ at 5 am and ‘Shri Ram Sankirtanam’ to be presented by Shri Ramkrishna Math Sankirtan Mandal at 9 am.

Krushan Khopde, Mohan Mate, Vikas Thakre, Dr Nitin Raut, Pravin Datke, all MLAs; Krupal Tumane, MLC; Dr Ravinder Singhal, Commissioner of Police, Nagpur City; Vijaylakshmi Bidari, Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur Division; Dr Vipin Itankar, District Collector; Sunil Meena, Chairman, Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT); and Abhijeet Chaudhari, Municipal Commissioner, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), among otehrs will also be present for the shobhayatra.