HYDERABAD: Durga puja celebrations in the city are in full swing. On Ashtami, the third and the most important day of the festival, hundreds of devotees thronged to pandals in their new clothes. This puja organised by the Hyderabad Bengali Welfare Association, a group of 70-80 Old City-based Bengalis is being held for the last 27 years. For Devashish Jana, one of the organisers, the festivities here is just like that of home.
“I haven’t gone back to West Bengal during pujas for a long time,” he said. Apart from the pushpanjali, another important ritual of the pujas, the sandhi puja was also performed. It gains significance because, according to texts, the puja is done at the exact time when “Durga slayed the notorious pair Chando and Munda”.
Heavy rains damage pandals
Krishna Nagar residents were in for a shock on Wednesday. Heavy rains in the city swept away the Durga idol, along with its large bamboo-made pandal along a water-logged street. In a video uploaded online, pandal covered in tarapulin was seen getting swept away. In the video, as the pandal sweeps across, three men try to run behind it in the knee-deep drain water.
Up above the gushing water, live wires dangle, creating a very dangerous situation. In another video, the Durga idol, which fell into the water-logged street is seen flowing away downstream. Two men run behind in a bid to stop its movement. However the strong current took the idol away.