Ravana face-plants before Narendra Modi's arrival

The Ravana effigy at a Ramleela venue at the Parade Ground got uprooted hours before PM Narendra Modi was scheduled to make an appearance to celebrate Vijayadashami on Saturday, officials said. "The 80 to 90 feet tall effigy came off its base due to a strong wind," said Ravi Jain, press secretary of Shri Dharmik Lila Committee, the event organisers. Authorities went into a tizzy as they prepared to receive the PM later in the evening, but Jain insisted that it was "minor incident" and the structure representing the demon king was mounted soon.

PM Modi performs tilak of artists enacting Lord Rama and Lakshman during Dussehra celebrations at Parade Ground in New Delhi

Jain also said that nobody was injured in the mishap. A senior police officer, however, disputed Jain's claim saying two people standing near the effigy received minor injuries and were administered first-aid. Later in the evening, arrows were fired to set the effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran ablaze at the Parade Ground. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Ve­nkaiah Naidu and former PM Manmohan Singh also atten­ded the event. Incidentally, as the PM drew the string of the bow, the shot failed as the bow had broken. Undeterred, and sportingly, PM Modi threw the arrow with his hand like a javelin to mark the symbolic gesture.

The Ravana effigy, which was uprooted, set ablaze. Pics/PTI and ANI

80 Height (in feet) of the Ravana effigy

Godmen go up in smoke in Punjab
Chandigarh: Effigies of self-styled godmen, including that of jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, were burnt at a few places along with the effigies of Ravana to symbolise the victory of good over evil as Dussehra was celeb­rated across Punjab and Haryana on Saturday.