Durga Puja Ends with Grand Immersion

[Guest guest]

New Delhi, INDIA (Oct 23, 2004) : Truckloads of cheering men and

women, singing and dancing, gathered on riverbanks across India to

immerse giant idols as the five-day Durga Puja festival came to an end

Saturday evening.

 

The trucks left the colourful pandals, or marquees, where the idols of

goddess Durga, her children, the gods Kartik, Ganesha, Lakshmi and

Saraswati, in the traditional freeze of the slaying of demon king

Mahishasura, were worshipped during the five-day religious and

cultural festival.

 

Women in traditional red-bordered saris and men in kurta pajamas

heaved the large and small statues onto the trucks with rousing cries

and cheers of "Goodbye mother, we shall wait till you come again next

year".

 

Before leaving the pandals, each idol was worshipped in a sort of

farewell ritual.

 

Then, forming snaking queues, rows of trucks, vans and cars travelled

to the rivers, like the Ganga in Kolkata, the Yamuna in Delhi and to

the Arabian Sea in Mumbai.

 

At the riverbanks, people danced to the fervent beat of the drummers,

who played through the five days, beating what is almost the

throbbing, pulsating heartbeat of worshippers, especially Bengalis

across the country.

 

One by one, with the splashing of mud and waves and joyous shouts, the

idols were slowly slipped into the waters.

 

In Delhi, idols from over 350 community pandals were taken in

procession to two earmarked areas in north and south Delhi for immersion.

 

In Kolkata, the streets, as every year, were clogged by traffic as

hundreds of immersion processions wound their way to the Ganga till

late into the night.

 

The immersion was the grand finale of the most auspicious time for

Bengalis in the year, a time of cultural and social togetherness as is

it for worship and religious fervour.

 

After the immersion, people hugged each other and wish "Shubho

Bijoya", in essence celebrating the victory of the goddess over the demon.

 

Durga Puja ends with grand immersion:

 

[india News]: New Delhi, Oct 23 : Truckloads of cheering men and

women, singing and dancing, gathered on riverbanks across India to

immerse giant idols as the five-day Durga Puja festival came to an end

Saturday evening.

 

The trucks left the colourful pandals, or marquees, where the idols of

goddess Durga, her children, the gods Kartik, Ganesha, Lakshmi and

Saraswati, in the traditional freeze of the slaying of demon king

Mahishasura, were worshipped during the five-day religious and

cultural festival.

 

Women in traditional red-bordered saris and men in kurta pajamas

heaved the large and small statues onto the trucks with rousing cries

and cheers of "Goodbye mother, we shall wait till you come again next

year".

 

Before leaving the pandals, each idol was worshipped in a sort of

farewell ritual.

 

Then, forming snaking queues, rows of trucks, vans and cars travelled

to the rivers, like the Ganga in Kolkata, the Yamuna in Delhi and to

the Arabian Sea in Mumbai.

 

At the riverbanks, people danced to the fervent beat of the drummers,

who played through the five days, beating what is almost the

throbbing, pulsating heartbeat of worshippers, especially Bengalis

across the country.

 

One by one, with the splashing of mud and waves and joyous shouts, the

idols were slowly slipped into the waters.

 

In Delhi, idols from over 350 community pandals were taken in

procession to two earmarked areas in north and south Delhi for immersion.

 

In Kolkata, the streets, as every year, were clogged by traffic as

hundreds of immersion processions wound their way to the Ganga till

late into the night.

 

The immersion was the grand finale of the most auspicious time for

Bengalis in the year, a time of cultural and social togetherness as is

it for worship and religious fervour.

 

After the immersion, people hugged each other and wish "Shubho

Bijoya", in essence celebrating the victory of the goddess over the demon.

 

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

URL: http://athens-olympics-2004.newkerala.com/?action=fullnews&id=38513