Nagpurians miss Ram Navmi shobhayatra, but traditional pooja of Shri Ram performed
   Date :03-Apr-2020

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 Otherwise crowded by devotees to welcome Ram Navami shobhayatra, Shahid Chowk, Itwari, had only police personnel amid lockdown to contain further spread of coronavirus, on Thursday.
 
Principal Correspondent :
 
Coronavirus outbreak stalls the 53-year-old tradition of shobhayatra which is one of the signature events of the city  
 
It is for the first time in last 53 years, Nagpurians could not witness the grand procession of Shri Ram which is the glory of whole of India-- the reason was coronavirus outbreak. But the pooja of Shri Ram on his birthday was performed at Poddareshwar Ram Mandir of course without much hype. The 80-year-old Ramkrishna Poddar, the Managing Trustee of Mandir, is the backbone of this historical and one and only one ‘Shri Ram Shobhayatra’ that has completed 53 years in a row.
 

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This year, it was its 54th year. Coronavirus outbreak compelled Poddareshwar Ram Mandir trustees to not to take out the procession on the day of Ram Navmi. The pooja and aarti was performed as per the tradition. ‘Mangal Aarti’ was performed at 4.30 in the morning with ‘Shringar Aarti’ at 6.30 am. ‘Rudrabhishek of Shivji’ and ‘Abhishek pujan of Shri Ram’ was performed at 8 am and 9.15 am respectively. The main function of Ram Navmi is grand mega aarti of Shri Ram during his birth, that was conducted at 12 noon with only two persons who performed it were inside the temple.
 
‘Shri Ram Shobhayatra’ has made all the difference not only for Nagpur but for the whole Central India. In Nagpur, people in other parts also have taken a leaf out of Poddareshwar Ram Mandir and started taking out such processions. Poddareshwar Ram Mandir trustees have set this tradition. On Thursday, amid police bandobast the trustees of the temple took care by not allowing people to throng Ram Mandir. Many Nagpurians have spiritual and emotional bonding with the shobhayatra tradition.
 
At least two generations have witnessed the creative tradition of taking out procession in a grand manner where floats depicting various mythological characters and events thereby attracting many including those from other communities. Punit Poddar, Trustee of Poddareshwar Ram Mandir said, “We will postpone it till coronavirus pandemic gets over. We have decided to hold it and will not be canceled. There are several aspects related to the procession. For example, people are commercially attached to the shobhayatra. Pooja and aarati during Ramjanma was shown live on Facebook and on UCN between 12.30 and 1.30 in the afternoon.”