The highlight of Goan celebrations of Diwali, the annual festival of lights, is ‘Naraka chaturdasi’.
Huge effigies of Narkasur, the demon king, are burnt at sunrise a day before Diwali to symbolise the victory of good over evil. For days before the festival, there is excitement in the air when the effigies are being made. They are dressed in colourful attire, adorned with replicas of weapons and stuffed with flammable hay, old paper and crackers. The demon king is paraded through the streets before being ceremoniously set afire.