Goa is in festive mood and also in election mode. We had published a two part analysis of Goa political scene (here and here) that concluded that BJP had an advantage, Congress was in tatters, while AAP was aggressively trying to break in.
However it appears that AAP’s aggressive on-ground campaign has won it equally aggressive pushback. Since last night, an image has been circulating on social media in Goan circles that claims to be of AAP’s “biggest” supporter ever. Have a look:
In case you are wondering who this demon-like AAP supporter is, it is not any real AAP leader (even the cap sarcastically says Aam Adani Party due to AAP workers always claiming Ambani-Adani hand behind things), but an effigy of a demon known as “Narkasur” in Goa. This demon is part of Diwali celebrations in Goa and some other regions down south.
In most of India, especially in North India, Diwali is celebrated as the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya. But in Goa, it is celebrated as Narak Chaturdashi – slaying of the demon Narkasur by Lord Krishna.
While in North India, effigies of a Ravana are burnt on the eve of Dussehra, in Goa, in the wee hours of Narak Chaturdashi, giant effigies of Narkasur are burnt.
And this year, one of the Narkasurs was the Aam Aadmi Party. This is somewhat similar to the incident in the JNU in Delhi where effigy of Prime Minister Modi was burnt on Dussehra, and ironically, many supporters of AAP had defended that act as free speech. Perhaps someone tried to pay back and currently it’s going viral on social media in Goa.
But this AAP demon is not the only demon worth going viral. In case, you were not aware about Narak Chaturdashi and Narkasur, do check out more effigies and you’d love them.
In fact, making of Narkasur effigies is an annual event in which all Goans take part in. Effigies are made literally in every locale and the night is spent by people roaming around seeing this effigies.
While most Narkasurs are made to represent the traditional demons from Amar Chitra Katha, in some cases people let their imagination run wild and use different themes. For example this reptilian Narkasur:
Some even make Narkasurs based on current events. A few people chose to vent their hatres for Pakistan’s terrorists activities by making a Pakistani Narkasur:
Quite cool ones, no? They are! We are leaving you with two more cool Narkasurs, and hope you go ahead and google to check out more of them. Or visit Goa next time for non-beer reasons!
