Twin Cities Bid Adieu To Maa Durga, Idols Immersed In Artificial Ponds

Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: Following ten days of the Durga festival, immersion of idols of Goddess Durga began in Odisha on Thursday.

Since it started raining in the morning itself in the twin cities–Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, the rites and rituals performed ahead of taking the idol off the pandal for immersion were delayed and at several places, the procession for idol immersion started taking place Thursday afternoon.

The idols of Goddess Durga being worshipped at 170 mandaps in Cuttack city are to be immersed today. The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has prepared three temporary ponds at Devigada for the purpose.

The immersion itself is an elaborate process as all idols of the tableau are immersed one by one after taking out their costumes and accessories. The idols are also broken up and then dumped into the water bodies.

The CMC has arranged for lighting and public toilet facilities at Devigada. More than 50 platoons of the police force have been deployed in the city to maintain law and order.

Similarly, four artificial immersion ponds have been dug on the banks of the Kuakhai and Daya rivers in Bhubaneswar to facilitate the immersion of the Durga idols.

Since the size of the idol are bigger compared to last year when the festival was a muted affair amid the pandemic, bigger ponds have been built to accommodate the idols, BMC sources said, adding that the immersion will take place from 8 am to 6 pm.

The organisers of puja pandals, devotees and locals accompanied the tableaus amid the playing of music and bursting firecrackers during the procession. The celebration would continue throughout the day as the people of the entire city participate in the final journey of the Goddess.

Police had also diverted traffic on several routes to facilitate smooth passage to immersion processions to the ghats where immersion takes place.