Panaji, Oct 21 (IANS): In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Panaji Corporation has decided to ban large effigies of mythical demon Narakasura, which is a part of the local Diwali festivities in Goa, Mayor Uday Madkaikar said on Wednesday.

Public competitions depicting the slaying of Narakasura is a popular highlight of the Diwali festivities in Goa, during which larger-than-life effigies of the demon are paraded through the cities as part of tradition.

Thousands of people line the streets to witness these float parades in different parts of the state.

"We have decided to ban Narakasura effigies which are taller than five feet. Public parading of such effigies as well as competitions will not be held in Panaji this year," Madkaikar told reporters here.

The mayor said that the decision had been taken due to two reasons.

"We do not want too many people to crowd the streets and the other reason is that burning of the effigies emits a lot of smoke, which is harmful to those Covid-19 patients who are in home isolation," Madkaikar said.

On Narak Chaturdashi day early in the Diwali season, nearly every town or residential hub hosts a parade where large and exaggerated effigies of Narakasura are dramatically 'slain' by Lord Krishna.

Like the more popular and more conventional Ram-slaying-Ravan scenes which are enacted in several other parts of India, symbolising the victory of good over evil, Krishna's slaying of Narakasura is also meant to convey a similar message in the coastal state.