Mandals in SoBo gear up for festival

As Dussehra approaches, Azad Maidan, Cross Maidan and Girgaum Chowpatty are getting cleaned up to prepare for the ten-day long Ramleela play that will be organised at these locations.

These venues in south Mumbai have been hosting the Ramleela for the past 50 years. Over 100 artists from Vrindavan and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh come to Mumbai to perform in the Ramleela.

This year, the Ramleela at these venues begins on the evening of September 21, with each enacting different stages of Rama's life for nine days.

On the tenth day, that is September 30, artists will perform the fight between Rama and Ravana and end by setting fire to the effigy of Ravana to celebrate Dussehra. The plays are organised daily from 7 to 10 pm.

The venues are under high police security on all ten days while on weekends and on the last day, there is tighter police bandobast.

Vinay Mishra, Secretary of Sahitya Kala Manch, that organises Ramleela at Azad Maidan, said, "For the first nine days, Azad Maidan sees at least 7,000 people, Cross Maidan has 2,000 daily visitors while Girgaum Chowpatty has around 7,000 people visiting daily. The footfall increases on weekends and on the last day, that is Dussehra, it reaches up to 1 lakh."