Durga Puja celebrations were in full swing in coal-rich Jharsuguda district as thousands of devotees thronged Puja pandals on the Mahaastami on Sunday.
Devotees all offered ‘Pushpanjali’ (floral libations) to the goddess amid chanting of mantras (hymns) and beating of drums Bengali Dhakis.
“The drumbeats are an integral part of the Durga Puja. This special variety of the drum, known as ‘Dhak’ enthralls devotees with its majestic rhythm right from the day of Sasthi,” said Sidharth Sarkar, Secretary of the Jharsuguda Town Durga Puja Committee.
“The most common form of offering on Durga Puja is Khichdi, served with semi-dry vegetable preparation, sweet tomato chutney and rice pudding payesh,” said Ramchandra Panigrahi, a priest at the Station Chowk Durga temple.
Mangalbazaar Shivasakti Puja Committee Secretary Pappu Sharma said the pandal’s budget woud cross `25 lakh this year against `23 lakh last year.
Similarly Pintu Padhi, secretary of the Sarbahal based Om Sri Puja Committee, said their Puja budget is `20.2 lakh. The budget of Town Durga Committee is also estimated to be around 19.32 lakh while most of the Puja Committees estimate their budgets ranging from `5 lakh to 15 lakh.
This year, the Rotary Club, Jharsuguda organised a Dandiya Utsav where TV Stars Navya Maiti and Nimihsa Deb were the main attractions. Children, youths and old ones danced together with ‘Dandiya sticks’ in their hands.
SDPO BK Nanda said that arrangements for smooth movement of the devotees and h one-way traffics were put in place at major thoroughfares.