Hyd’bad turns saffron as swarms of devotees take part in Shobha Yatra

Hyderabad: City lanes turned saffron as thousands of devotees took part in Shobha Yatra processions held across multiple areas on Sunday to mark Ram Navami.

The main attraction was the grand Shobha Yatra that started from Sitarambagh temple and culminated at Hanuman Vyayamashala grounds later in the evening. The dingy lanes were decked up with saffron flags. The procession was organised by the Bhagyanagar Sri Rama Navami Utsav Committee. People and children lined up on the roadsides and rooftops to welcome the procession as it passed through several lanes. Apart from this several other procession were organise. One among them was Goshamahal MLA Raja Singh shobha yatra that started from Dhoolpet and later joined the main procession.

Amidst tight security, the procession kicked off around 1:30 pm accompanied by an array of colourful tableaux with idols of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Laxman donning the long truck beds. Sitarambagh and Dhoolpet were clogged with devotees who followed the 6.5 km yatra as it traversed through Mangalhat, Jummerat Bazaar, Dhoolpet, Begum Bazar Chatri, Siddiamber Bazar, Gowliguda and Koti. Water, food, and prasadam were distributed among devotees at various points in the procession. People of all ages including children, youth and elderly were seen dancing to the tunes of devotional song. The youth were seen chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram.’ The Shobha Yatra concluded in the form of a public meeting at Hanuman Vyayamshala.

Several voluntary organisations had set up stages to welcome the Shobha Yatra along the procession route. The philanthropist organisations and individuals provided drinking water, butter milk packets, cool drink packets to those who were part of the rally.

The police made elaborate security arrangements on the procession route by deploying Rapid Action Force, Commissioner’s Task Force, City Armed Reserve platoons and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). The police officials were deployed near all religious places and sensitive points in the city. The senior police officials were maintaining a close watch on the procession from the command and control centre at Banjara Hills.