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Hindu devotees immersing the Durga goddess into the Dhansiri River on Friday in Dimapur.[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 19: The bright and cheerful atmosphere in Dimapur with vibrantly coloured pandals and sounds of drumbeats displaying the strength of Durga Puja festival concluded on Friday —the last day of the festival, also called as Dashami, when the idols of 41 goddesses were taken for immersion at Dhansiri River.
Durga Puja, an annual festival of the Hindus, celebrates the homecoming of goddess Durga that embodies ‘victory over evil.’ The last day, according to Rajat Ghosh the general secretary ofDimapur Bengali Students' Union (DBSU), is celebrated as farewell to goddess Durga as ‘she leaves her father's house for her husband's place.’
The idols from all the pandals in Dimapur were assembled at the Bhashan Ghat for immersion after a programme organised by the Dimapur Hindiu Seva Samiti at the interstate bus terminal Purana Bazaar in Dimapur.
DBSU advisor, Bishnu Bhattacharjee said a total of 53 pandals for Durga Puja, as per the record available with Dimapur Hindu Seva Samiti, were put up in Dimapur and the immersion programme was organised according to the guidelines of Dimapur Hindu Seva Samiti at banks of Dhansiri River. A towering effigy of Ravana, symbolising the evil, was burnt to mark the ‘destruction of evil.’
"The Durga Puja festival also starts the preparation for one of the most important and widely celebrated festivals — Diwali, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami,” explained Bhattacharjee.
