Buxar: Buxar’s historic 21-day Vijayadashami festival began with religious fervour at Kila Maidan on Sunday evening, with Vedic chants, Ganesh Puja and traditional rituals marking the opening of the celebrations.The festival, a pre-Independence tradition spanning more than a century, is being organised with a mix of religious and cultural programmes. A large number of devotees and spectators gathered at Kila Maidan for the inaugural ceremony and the subsequent staging of ‘Narad Moh Leela’ by artists from Vrindavan.The festival was inaugurated by Mahant Rajgopalacharya ‘Tyagi Ji’ Maharaj, Peethadhishwar of Lakshmi Narayan Temple, who performed the rituals and offered blessings. Education minister Mithilesh Tiwari also attended the programme.The Ramleela complex reverberated with Vedic chants as scholars performed the traditional rituals. The inaugural ceremony was followed by worship of Lord Ganesha and Lord Ram and Janaki, ‘aarti’ and the staging of ‘Narad Moh Leela’.The performance, directed by Swami Mohan Shyam Bhardwaj, depicted the story of Devarshi Narad, his penance, the emergence of ego from his devotion and his eventual self-realisation through Lord Vishnu’s divine Leela.Buxar’s Ramleela is distinctive for its 21-day format. The celebrations begin around Jitiya festival and continue until the traditional Bharat Milap following Dussehra. The festival culminates with Bharat Milap at Yamuna Chowk.This year, the Balkrishna Raslila Ramleela Mandal of Vrindavan is staging Ramleela and Krishnaleela. Krishnaleela will be performed daily from 9 am to noon, while Ramleela will be staged from 8 pm to 10 pm.During the inaugural programme many women observed religious fasts.The education minister said Buxar’s Ramleela was a cultural tradition dating back to the pre-Independence era and had a unique identity in Bihar.He said the performances conveyed the ideals of Lord Ram, including ‘maryada’, sacrifice, truth and dharma, and stressed the need to preserve the tradition for future generations.
