Vijaya Dashami: An End To The Grand Celebrations

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The five-day Durga Puja, the greatest of all Hindu festivals, came to an end on Tuesday with the solemn immersion of the Goddess Durga in various ghats around the city. The ghats selected for immersion included the Kasomari ghat, Pandu ghat, Jaipur ghat, Basistha ghat and Soukuchi ghat.

Devotees thronged the puja mandaps to celebrate Vijaya Dashami, the last day of the festival. They recited mantras and offered flowers to the goddess Durga (pushpanjali) and prayed for her blessings.

Each of the mandaps across the town were ornamented with beautiful idols, showcasing the goddess in all her glory. Vijaya Dashami is the special ceremony of reaffirming peace and good relations among people. On this day, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s forehead on the occasion. There were 492 puja pandals acroos Guwahati city. Thousands of people thronged the ghats to observe the final phase of the festival — the immersion of the goddess Durga. Last year, 230 idols were immersed in the Kasoumari ghat and this year, till the time of penning this news, 110 idols were already immersed. Pandu ghat will see the immersion rituals on Wednesday as well.

Entry of public vehicles on the coastal road of Brahmaputra was prohibited in view of the overcrowded crowd. The enthusiasm of the crowd was palpable. City buses and other four-wheeler and three-wheelers came out in very small numbers on the city roads. Due to the prohibition of entry, people remained stranded for many hours due to dearth of buses. On the banks of the Brahmaputra along the road was a different scene altogether as trucks upon trucks carrying idols and devotees shouted the jayjaykar of the divine goddess as she departed earth.

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