patākābhirvarārhābhirdhvajaiśca samalaṅkṛtām| vṛtāṃ chandapathaiścāpi śirassnātajanairvṛtām mālyamodakahastaiśca dvijendrairabhināditām| śukladevagṛhadvārāṃ sarvavāditranisvanām samprahṛṣṭajanākīrṇāṃ brahmaghoṣābhināditām| prahṛṣṭavarahastyaśvāṃ sampraṇarditagovṛṣām prahṛṣṭamuditaiḥ paurairucchritadhvajamālinīm| ayodhyāṃ mantharā dṛṣṭvā paraṃ vismayamāgatā
The city of Ayodhya was decorated with costly banners and pennants. The labyrinthine roads were crowded with people who had (finished) their headbath and were wandering at will. The temples with their doors painted white were reverberating with the chanting from the Vedas by the best of brahmins holding garlands and sweetmeats in their hands and with sounds of all kinds of musical instruments. The city was filled with spirited horses and elephants. The bulls were bellowing and the cows were lowing. The citizens with great joy raised the penants encircling the city of Ayodhya. All this left Manthara astonished.
— M.N. Dutt (1891)
The streets, the banners, the crowds — the image is imprinted again. The epic holds this frame before us, forcing us to see it from a new angle. The same city, the same joy, now reframed as the opening move of a political betrayal.