AT Photo
Silchar, Oct 21: The year-long wait for Durga Puja celebrations—a blend of tradition, faith, community and creative excellence is over as people across southern Assam are all set to welcome Mother Goddess and her celestial children for the four-day extravaganza starting on Saturday.
However, much before the start of the celebrations, the enthusiastic revellers had already begun hopping the pandals across various locations of the second biggest urban sprawl in the state. With the streets given a fresh look and the lighting adding to the festive zeal, already hundreds of revellers have been spotted across major pandals here.
This year, the idol of Mother Goddess Durga and her celestial children at the Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama Silchar is a matter of great interest and quest among the devotees, as according to the mission authorities, this year the idol is made in an exact manner of the idol at the Belur Math, the headquarter of Ramakrishna Mission and Math in Kolkata.
Love for some of the popular sports, including chess, ludo and other sports has been revived in the Puja Pandal of Daylight Club in Rangirkhari area, which is celebrating the 63rd year of Durga Puja celebrations.
The pandal of the Apanjon Durga Puja Committee in the Bilpar area is one of the major attractions this year. The organisers have built a replica of the London Bridge, and idol of the goddess also carries a touch of tradition and grandeur. The selfie-crazy youth is seen across the pandal atop a pond, capturing moments to make their memories special.
“We are loving every moment of our visit to the pandal, even before the start of the Durga Puja celebrations. Understanding that the rush would be a heavy one, we have been lucky to satisfy our quest for the pandal, glimpses of which we saw on social media,” said a group of youth from Hailakandi district.
On Thursday evening, a sea of people were witnessed at the puja pandal of the Kalabari Road Puja Committee at Udharbond, which has based its theme for this year on the iconic Victoria Memorial coupled with the Amarnath caves as a special attraction. People, young and old, have thronged the pandal and said, “It is one of the very best pandals seen so far and we are expecting to witness more of such wonderful creative works in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, the Cachar district police have geared up to make the puja days safe and secure for the devotees and puja revellers. Additional SP Cachar (Headquarters) Subrata Sen informed on Friday that elaborate arrangements have been made to make the Durga Puja days an enjoyable experience for the people of Silchar and the district at large. The no-entry points have been demarcated and forces have been deployed to avert any untoward incidents during the festive days. Like last year, the Anti-Romeo special squad will be in action to prevent incidents of eve-teasing and mobile snatching, while the traffic personnel have been given fluorescent jackets and special portable signal lights to make the movement of traffic easy and congestion-free, the Additional SP said.
