People sang and danced to the beats of the dhaks, the quintessential item of the Durga Puja, and the married women applied vermilion on each others’ foreheads as the idols of Mother Durga and other deities of her divine constellation were being taken to the river Saung near Maldeota for immersion on Tuesday.
However, beneath the mirth lurks sense of sorrow as immersion marks the end of the four-day Durga Puja festivities.
A devotee said, “With the immersions, Goddess Durga and her children depart, leaving devotees with memories of four fun-filled days and a yearning for next year’s festivities.”
Meanwhile, the Durga Puja celebrations organised at various temples and pandals in the city also culminated on Tuesday with the immersion of Durga idols in the river amid chanting by thousands of devotees.
A large number of people from various walks of life, draped in beautiful attires, gathered at different puja pandals of Hathibarkala (Survey Of India Estate), Bengali library (Karanpur), Durga Bari on Cantt Road, Adhoiwala (Near Sahastradhara Crossing), Model Colony (Araghar) and others to celebrate the immersion of the idols of Goddess Durga.
According to a purohit, Navratra and Dusshera festivals had assumed a universal hue with the people of all the communities participating with a sense of involvement.
Dashami started with usual Puja of the Goddess amidst chanting of mantras, followed by the darpan visarjan or the symbolic immersion of the idols. Devotees saw the feet of the Goddess Durga in a mirror. Then women folk applied Sindur on the forehead of the Goddess and offer her paan (betel) and sweets.
The processions comprising trucks and bullock carts loaded with devotees as well as private vehicles then spilled on to the streets and made their way to the rivers.
“After immersing the idol I realised that festivities had come to an end. I am very sad, and letting Ma Durga go each year is very painful for us. We plan all year for the pujas and wait for this time of the year, but suddenly it’s over,” said one of the devotees who participated in immersion of idols.
A member of Durga Puja Committee, Karanpur said, “Although the idols are carried amidst much cheering, on our return we fall silent, sad as we are being forced to part with the goddess.”
Tapas Chakraborty, general secretary, Puja Committee, Raipur said on Mahadashami Sindhoor Khela or the smearing of vermilion takes place where women offer vermilion to Goddess Durga and apply on each others’ forehead for the longevity of their husbands and the blessings of Goddess Durga in general. “later, the idols were taken in a procession to the nearby river Saung, where they were immersed into water, which marked the Navratra fiesta coming to an end,” he said.
After the immersions were over the ceremony of distributing ‘Shanti jal” collected from the places of immersion was held, a ritual that marks the finale of the puja fiesta.