BHUBANESWAR: Five days of festivities came to an end in the capital city of Bhubaneswar as people bid adieu to Goddess Durga on Wednesday.Various committees/samitis carried out mega processions of idols of the Goddess that converged at Saheed Nagar in the evening for ‘melana’.
People could be seen dancing on the capital city’s roads during ‘bhasani jatra’ (immersion ceremony) of the goddess. The processions were accompanied by various folk artists and puja revelers.
Bomikhal Durga Puja Samiti took out a grand procession by including two camels in it. “Bidding adieu to the goddess is a sad moment for us. But we are filled with excitement and looking forward to celebrate the festival with the same enthusiasm and fervour next year,” said a devotee.
The city’s skyline was illuminated with firecrackers as puja committees carried their idols in procession towards Kuakhai and Daya rivers. Traditional instruments like conch and cymbals were used as part of the celebrations. As many as five bhasani jatra committees/samitis were formed for processions and immersion of Goddess Durga idols.
Bhubaneswar Bhasani Utsav Samiti in Saheed Nagar consisted of 23 medhas, Rajdhani Mandir Surakhya Bhasani Samiti in Nayapalli of 18 and Uttar Bhubaneswar Vasani Committee in Chandrasekharpur of 21. This apart, there were individual committees of Rasulgarh and Baramunda puja pandals.Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had constructed four makeshift ponds on the banks of
Kuakhai (Palasuni, Hanspal and Bankuala) and one on the banks of Daya river near Lingipur for immersion of the idols. This apart, the city police had enhanced security to ensure smooth passage of ‘bhasani jatra’ and set up one control room each at the makeshift ponds.Personnel of Odisha Fire and Emergency Service and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were deployed to handle any emergency during the immersion of the idols in the city.
Two groups clash near Rasulgarh Pandal
A clash reportedly broke out between two groups near Rasulgarh Durga Puja pandal on Wednesday evening during ‘bhasani jatra’. As per police, most members of the groups were juveniles and they fled after the brawl. Sources said one of the miscreants was armed with a sword but did not attack anyone with the weapon and he used it to only terrorise the members of the opposite group. Two to three youths sustained injuries in the incident, said sources. Meanwhile, police said they are making efforts to avoid any further untoward incident until the immersion ceremony is over and action will be taken after further investigation into the matter