Assam: Durga Puja celebrated peacefully across Sonitpur district

TEZPUR: Durga puja was celebrated across the Sonitpur district with traditional fanfare and devotion. The five-day festivity culminated on Tuesday with the immersion of the idols of Goddess Durga in various rivers of the district as Bijoya Dashami, and it passed off peacefully. The Maruwari Durga Puja, which is 25 years old, was held at Polo field in Tezpur and it was the most attractive this year.

People in large numbers, including women and children lined up beside the MG Road and Jahajghat here before noon on Tuesday to watch and bid farewell to the Goddess, whose idols were brought on trucks by the puja organizing committees followed by the respective committee members on foot in the afternoon.

The idols were immersed at Jahajghat of the Brahmaputra River here with the administration making necessary arrangements and issuing guidelines to be followed by the puja organizers to enable the immersion to be carried out smoothly. Talking to The Sentinel, Additional SP (Headquarters) Madhurima Das informed that deployment of policemen, including women staff, in large numbers at the ghat and along the route helped to maintain law and order and control unruly elements. Most of the roads in the town were closed for vehicular traffic since Saptami by the police to ensure free movement of pedestrians, Das added.

On Dashami, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s forehead on the occasion.

The number of puja pandals increased this year as there were around 150 in Tezpur town and 350 across the Sonitpur district.

Deba Kumar Mishra, District Commissioner of Sonitpur, said, “The immersion of Durga idols started in the morning amidst tight security arrangements made on all the ghats. Police vans were posted at the entry gates and the SDRF, NDRF teams were kept ready in case of any emergency.”

BILASIPARA: Durga Puja was celebrated peacefully at Bilasipara. In Bilasipara subdivision, there were 57 pandals where devotees visited to worship Goddess Durga. The immersion of idols was also done peacefully and smoothly on Tuesday. People, irrespective of religion, caste, and community, cooperated for the peaceful celebration. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

DIBRUGARH: Durga Puja passed off peacefully in Dibrugarh with a four-day celebration. More than 120 Durga Pujas were organized in Dibrugarh following all protocols. The Dibrugarh district administration had taken a slew of measures for the smooth immersion of idols at Brahmaputra ghat. But some Durga Puja committees were not happy with the functioning of the Dibrugarh district administration during the immersion.

“Everything was fine but the Dibrugarh district administration should take some more measures during the immersion. We are not happy with the administration. The whole management in the immersion ghat was not up to the mark,” said one of Durga Puja committee members.

The immersion started at 12 pm and continued till late night. Dibrugarh District Commissioner Bikram Kairi, SP Shwetank Mishra, MLA Prasanta Phukan, DMB chairman Saikat Patra, and other officials from the district administration were present during the immersion.

MANGALDAI: With the devotees bidding a tearful adieu to Devi Durga, the celebration of Durga Puja in the Darrang district along with the rest of the State came to an end on Tuesday.

The district administration deployed SDRF personnel, supplied sufficient power and other adequate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the immersion of the idols, and at the same time checked any possible untoward incident. Accordingly, the immersion ceremony that started around 12 noon lasted till 8.30 pm at different notified immersion sites close to several large water bodies of the district like Mangaldai River under Mangaldai police station, River Tongani under Dhula police station, River Bor-Nadi at Dumunichowki under Sipajhar Police Station, River Nanoi at Dolongghat under Mangaldai police station, part of the River Brahmaputra at Melaghat under Kharupetia police station and River Sukhajani at Chokorabasti under Dalgaon police station amidst strict security vigil and disaster risk reduction arrangements.

Durga Puja celebrations began with a five-day long programme on Friday with religious enthusiasm and traditional gaiety. This year, the district has recorded nearly 200 puja pandals both at community and individual levels, in comparison to 83 in the Covid-hit 2020 and 188 in the normal pre-Covid period. Mangaldai Police Station recorded the highest number of community puja celebrations followed by Kharupetia Police Station.

As the day of Maha Navami was hot and sunny, puja revellers in large numbers thronged the puja mandaps in the evening hours after the overnight heavy shower followed by drizzling in the first half of Maha Astomi had earlier affected the festive spirit. In Maha Navmi, due to the continuous flow of visitors, some puja mandaps were kept open even after the stipulated timeline set by the administration. The roadside dhabas and the restaurants have made a brisk business these days with the rush of customers till late hours.

Among the different pujas here, the artistic look of some puja pandals based on some popular themes including ‘Chandrayan-3’ organized by ‘Shakti Sangha’ at ward no. 5 of Mangaldai and ‘Tiger Club’ of Kharupetia, ‘Brindavan Dham’ at ‘Netaji Nagar’, Kharupetia and others drew the most crowds. The presentation of the traditional folk cultures like ‘Ojapali’, ‘Khuliya Bhaona’, ‘Mahila Thiyo Naam’ etc. in different puja venues on the Maha Navami evening also attracted a large number of visitors.

On the other hand, the historic Durga Puja of the Koch Royal dynasty was also celebrated in three different royal sites- Gakhir-Khowa Raja Howli, Mohanpur Howli and Dangar Raja Howli with more than 400 years old tradition and culture. The face of the idol of the goddess in the royal puja was smeared with red colour to symbolize the deity in its warrior look. Among these three royal pujas, animals are sacrificed only in Gakhir-Khowa Raja Howli Puja on Maha Astomi.

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