Ram Navmi celebrations turned bloody in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh leaving three worshippers dead and 35 injured as religious fervour and gaiety marked the Lord Rama’s birthday across the country today. Two groups of devotees clashed following a dispute over offering prayers at the ancient Brahmani temple in Balrai area in Etawah, police said. The violence, in which the two sides also traded fire, left three dead and 35, including some policemen, injured, they said. Police also opened fire to bring the situation under control.
Elsewhere in the country, faithful thronged temples since daybreak as special prayers and dips in sacred rivers marked Ram Navmi celebrations. Amid blowing of conch shells and rendering of devotional songs, devotees offered prayers at illuminated temples as huge posse of policemen stood guard outside the shrines. In holy city Haridwar in Uttarakhand, tens of thousands of people took dips in surging waters of river Ganges and paid obeisance at temples amid tight security.
The national capital saw devotees, carrying offerings to deities, flocking to decorated temples since dawn to offer prayers. In Ayodhya, pilgrims took dips in holy Saryu river and thronged temples where special prayers were held at mid-day when Lord Rama was supposed to have born. Door-frame metal detectors were set up at some places as authorities beefed up security in the city.
–PTI–