Diksha Grover
Dehradoon, October 8, 2008:
After Karanpur, Raipur, Dharampur and now on the Mall Road in the Cantt area, the ‘Durgotsav’ organized by the Durgabari Committee is in full swing. While Tuesday was the day when the main puja took place; early Thursday morning, the idol would be immersed into the holy water of Ganga in Haridwar.
Being the 53rd Durgostav since it was first started by ONGC in 1956, this year’s festival was better organized for approximately 4,500 people. With various cultural happenings by evening, there was enough accommodation for all to sit and eat. Listing the much awaited happenings of Wednesday, Sumit Chakrabarti, the Secretary of the Durgapuja Committee said, “Today the married women, would play with sindoor and put tika on the idol. This ceremony would be followed by a Bengali play. Later, there would be dance on drumbeats with burnt mud containers, which would hold essence sticks and coconut fibers.”
With most women who let their hair down, the morning of maha saptami (the seventh day) was taken up with the worship of the deity, followed by devotees offering prayers and flowers on an empty stomach, amidst the chanting of mantras to the Goddess. Bhog at lunchtime was a welcome break for those who gathered in the pandals. But by evening, the pandal became dazzling with array of new clothes, shiny faces of children and a spectacular display of lights. The rhythmic drumbeats added to the mood of Bengal’s most popular festival. Beside the actual Puja,the pandal organised different kinds of competition to regale the local people
Releasing ‘Durgotsav-2008’, a magazine with various advertisements, articles, editorial pages, festival schedules, Balance sheet-2007, cultural program details etc, the festival this time has no doubt taken up a very celebrated shape. While Mr. Sandeep Kalara sponsored the Saptami food, the Asthami food was sponsored by DIT. People were coming in numbers of ten members per family every ten minutes. The place was not just flooded but also over flowing by mid afternoon.
The beautifully decorated pandal was covered with charkas and intricately cut images of Ma Durga in white. This Ashwin (the season of Durga puja in the month of September–October) the Khilone-wale had a huge sale of bright and new toys for the younger. According to Makhan Singh, a khilone wala, who sat through all the four days of puja, this year witnessed one of the most celebrated Durga Puja in Dehradun.
Despite the Durga puja greetings for the Durgabari Committee, by the President of India and the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s office; what made the festival more deep and close-knit was the interaction between all the people present there greeting one another. While it may not have been possible for Dehradun to become Kolkata, the festivity and the involvement in all the people surely made Dehradun a part of Kolkata.
Published in Hindustan Times, Dehradun
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