Kolkatans celebrate Vijaya Dashami wIth Sindur Khela

This is the day that Kolkatans lament the most as it is time again to bid adieu to the Hindu Goddess Durga and her four children (Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh) with Maha Dashami celebrations coming to an end on Friday (Oct 19, 2018), starting yet another one-year wait for the deity to arrive on Earth. However before the festivity comes to end, women make the most of it with Sindur Khela. In this ritual, married women smears Sindur first on the Durga idol and then on each other. Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS