BHUBANESWAR : Durga Puja festivities came to an end in the city on Monday with thousands of devotees bidding farewell to the Mother Goddess amid grand immersion processions carried out at multiple locations.
The immersion ceremony began from noon and continued till late in the night. The procession was carried out in groups by three organisations - Bhubaneswar Bhasani Utsav Committee, Saheed Nagar; Rajdhani Mandir Suraksha Bhasani Samiti, Nayapalli and Uttar Bhubaneswar Vasani Committee, Chandrasekharpur - on Janpath, Nayapalli road and Nalco-KIIT square road respectively.
At least 26 major puja committees joined the immersion procession organised by the Bhubaneswar Bhasani Utsav Committee on Janpath road. In view of the large gathering on these roads, traffic was diverted at multiple places between 3 pm and 1 am. Security and crowd control measures were also put in place to ensure the safety of puja committee members and onlookers.
The immersion procession was unique this year not only for its spiritual fervour but also the measures put in place by the local administration and police to check noise pollution.
In view of the restriction imposed by the Commissionerate Police on use of DJ music during the procession, many puja organisers opted for traditional music and dance to maintain the festive spirit. However, this also became the reason of a split between some of the organisers.
Opposing the move to ban DJ music, a few committees including Bomikhal Durga Puja Samiti kept themselves out of the group procession and carried it out separately. “The local administration has neglected us,” alleged one of the organising members of Bomikhal puja samiti.
After the procession, immersion of idols was carried out in the five temporary ponds created by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the banks of Kuakhai and Daya rivers as well as near Tankapani road.
The BMC deployed five teams, one for each pond, along with ODRAF members to facilitate smooth conduct of the immersion ceremony. Crane facility was also made available near the temporary ponds to help organisers carry out immersion.
Durga Puja was organised at 187 pandals in the city this year.