Threat of rains fail to dampen festive spirit as West Bengal celebrates Navami

Kolkata, Oct 1 (PTI) A forecast of light to moderate rain by the Met department from Wednesday evening failed to dampen festive spirits as lakhs of people thronged Durga Puja pandals across Kolkata and districts on Navami, the penultimate day of the five-day celebrations.

Since the morning large crowds were seen outside popular pandals in the city and various districts of West Bengal to make the most of the last day of festivities.

Pujas like Tallah Prattay, Tridhara, Chetla Agrani, Ekdalia Evergreen, 95 Pally Jodhpur Park, Kashi Bose Lane, Baghbazar Sarbojonin, Mudiali, Kendua Shanti Sangha Patuli, Sreebhumi Sporting Club were among the Pujas which continued to draw huge turnouts.

Santosh Mitra Square in Sealdah, which themed it's puja on Operation Sindoor, continued to draw lakhs of people since morning, with the waiting time for entering the ground crossing two hours.

"Despite police restrictions and no light-and-sound show during the day, crowds have swelled since morning," said Sajal Ghosh, secretary of the Santosh Mitra Square Puja committee.

Partha Ghosh, an office bearer of Shiv Mandir Sarbojonin Puja Committee in Lake area, said, thousands visited the pandal over the past three days.

"Despite possibility of rains, we are expecting at least 20,000 to visit our marquee today," he said.

Crowds were also seen before puja pandals in Malda, Bolpur, Siliguri, Howrah, Durgapur, Kalyani, Balurghat, Bardhaman and other districts across the state.

Thousands of devotees converged in Belur Math, headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, to witness the Puja.

At Sabarna Roychudhury's house in Barisha, the traditional 'kumari' puja was performed, where a girl was worshipped as Durga. A similar ceremony was also performed at the Mudiali community puja.

Community feasts and cultural functions were also held in many areas and apartment complexes.

"Everyone looks forward to this day for months. We are going ahead with our scheduled events, including a fashion show with local participation, regardless of the weather. Not a single resident leaves the area during these five days," said an member of the 61-year-old Naktala Nabapally Sarbojanin Durga Puja committee.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the people of the state on the occasion of 'Navami' and posted a music video of one of her puja songs, featuring lyrics penned by her and sung by Iman Chakraborty.

Meanwhile, the IMD forecast light to moderate rain in parts of South Bengal, including Kolkata, from Wednesday night, as a well-marked low-pressure area over the west-central Bay of Bengal continues to intensify.

In a statement, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the system is likely to move north-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression over the same region within the next 12 hours.

"Continuing to move further north-northwestwards, it is likely to intensify further into a deep depression and cross South Odisha- North Andhra Pradesh coasts during early morning of October 3. Under its influence, there will be light rains in south Bengal districts from Navami night and moderate rains from Dashami noon on October 2," weather officials said. PTI SUS MNB