Vijaya Dashami: Bengal bids adieu to Goddess Durga, five-day festival ends
Kolkata: At the end of the five-day mega festival that witnessed the entire Bengal wallow in a frenetic celebration, despite COVID-19 fears, people bid adieu to Goddess Durga on Friday, the Vijay Dashami day, wishing she returns the next year bringing in happiness.
Immersion of the idol is going on across various river ghats in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal.
This year also the festival was celebrated amid COVID-19 fear.
West Bengal and the rest of the country witnessed a deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year with people struggling to get hospital beds and oxygen supplies.
The crematoriums and burial grounds across the state were left overwhelmed amid a spike in deaths due to the virus.
Women thronged community pandals, smearing the deity, who assumes the form of a daughter, ready to leave her paternal abode for the husband's home, with vermilion and offering her sweets through traditional rituals.
Even though many were in tears, it was the beginning of a new celebration as married women smudged one another with vermilion in a fun-filled goodwill gesture while males embraced each other uttering, "Shubho Bijoya"- a phrase denoting best wishes for one and all.
However, COVID-19 protocols were maintained in performing all the rituals this year.
विजयादशमी के पावन अवसर पर आप सभी को अनंत शुभकामनाएं।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 15, 2021
Greetings to everyone on the special occasion of Vijaya Dashami.
Indian PM Narendra Modi wished the country on Vijaya Dashami and tweeted: " Greetings to everyone on the special occasion of Vijaya Dashami."
মা গো তুমি আবার এসো আলোর খবর নিয়ে,
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 15, 2021
শান্তি-সম্প্রীতি-ঐক্য বাঁচুক বাংলার হৃদয়ে।
মা দুর্গার বিদায়বেলায় আজ সবার মন ভারাক্রান্ত। ভুবনমোহিনী মায়ের আশীর্বাদে বাংলায় অক্ষুণ্ণ থাকুক সম্প্রীতির সুর। শুভ বিজয়া দশমীর আন্তরিক প্রীতি ও শুভেচ্ছা।
West Bengal Mamata Banerjee also greeted people and posted her message on Twitter.
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