Thousands turn out to watch annual Deepavali motorcade
Thousands of Guyanese, on Saturday, flocked the streets of Georgetown and the LBI Community Centre Ground to watch the annual Deepavali motorcade of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha. The procession, which has been a popular feature of Deepavali for many years now, saw hundreds of vehicles lining both sides of the East Coast Road stretching from as far as Vlissengen Road in Kitty to Ogle. The sea wall was packed with spectators and police had a full job on their hands controlling the long line of traffic. A total of 17 floats, including ones from as far as Berbice and Leonora took part in the procession, which started from the Shri Krishna Mandir in Campbellville and wended its way through the streets of the capital before turning into the East Coast road. Fazil Azeez of the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation chaired the proceedings at LBI, where judging was done in two categories - large and small vehicles. Minister Reepu Daman Persaud ventured the opinion to this newspaper that both the quality and the quantity of floats was better than last year. He was also of the view the crowd turn-out was larger.  The Lusignan Mandir copped the large vehicles top prize of $75,000 which was sponsored by Tony's Auto Spares while D'Edward Village Mandir on the West Coast of Berbice won the small vehicles Neal and Massey-sponsored grand prize of $75,000. In the large category, the second prize of $60,000 went to the Better Hope Mandir, the third prize of $50,000 went to the Rama Krishna Mandir while the $40,000 fourth prize went to the Edinburgh Mandir of Berbice. The small vehicles section saw the second prize of $60,000 being awarded to Ganesh Persaud of Campbellville, the $50,000 third prize to the Little India Store and the fourth prize of $40,000 to Muneshwer's Travel Agency. After a three-day visit to Region 10, members of the cabinet finally get a chance to socialise while at the LBI community Centre Ground on Saturday night. From left, in this Ken Moore picture, are Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Minister of Agriculture Reepu Daman Persaud, President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj. Among those present at the packed community centre ground, were President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Minister Reepu Daman Persaud who is also President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and Minister Ronald Gajraj. The Nritya Sangh Dance Group and El Sadiek Band along with other artistes also complemented the show with dances and songs. (Leonard Gildarie) 
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