Jamshedpur, Oct 27: Durga Puja, one of the greatest festivals of the city, ended with immersion of idols of Goddess Durga in the rivers all over. Tight security arrangements were made.
Amidst strict safety protocols, the devotees bid adieu to the goddess after five days of celebration. The festival was celebrated under the shadow of pandemic Covid-19. Devotees, including the men women and children joined hands to say ‘Asche bochor abar hobe’ (See you next year).
Festivity gripped the devotees as married women smeared the goddess and her children with red vermilion and offered sweets and prayed for the well-being of their families and long lives of their husbands.
This year the idols were taken to the river ghats on smaller vehicles with a maximum of 15 members in the procession.
Police officials said that no untoward incidents have been reported. There was adequate police deployment in the areas and things move smoothly. Law and order machinery was pressed into service with full speed to ensure peaceful conduct of the festival, with additional police force being deployed at several strategic locations.
Chanting “Bolo Durga Mai Ki, Jai”, people took the giant idols of Goddess Durga from puja venues to the banks of rivers and immersed it after offering prayers.
Tight security arrangements were made at the river banks of Kharkai and Subarnarekha. Launches were kept ready to rescue people in case of emergencies, the police said.
In the morning, married women smeared the goddess and her children with red vermilion and offered sweets and prayed for the well-being of their families and long lives of their husbands.
Various puja venues across the city, including the famous ones in Adityapur and Sakchi saw a large number of people gathering to seek the blessings of the goddess this morning. An adequate number of policemen were deployed across the city to streamline the rush of devotees who were headed towards river banks to immerse the idols.