NEW DELHI: Nisha Dey wiped her tears, controlled her emotions, cleared her throat and shouted, “Aschey bochor abaar hobe”, beseeching Goddess Durga to return next year. The Chittaranjan Park resident then watched the idol being immersed to the sounds of dhaak and ghonta at a specially created pond at Astha Kunj Park near south Delhi’s Nehru Place. As the week-long festival ended on Wednesday on a grand note after a two-year lull due to the pandemic, the day of victory of good over evil was also one to remember loved ones who lost their fight with Covid-19. “It’s a very emotional moment. We are in stress all year and Maa takes away our sorrows and tension,” said a reverent Dey. The farewell to the goddess is always emotional, and almost every woman relates it either to leaving their parental home after marriage or of the day when she will leave her family for her husband’s. “This farewell to the goddess brings us hope of a better future,” added Dey, her face covered in red having participated in the Sindoor Khela before the idol left the Pujo pandal. Since 2019, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has restricted the immersion of idols in the Yamuna. But even with the river out of bonds, devotees felt ecstatic at being able to give the goddess a good farewell in the temporary ponds. “The last time the festival was so grandly organised was in 2019. We lost many friends and loved ones to Covid after that, so there is sorrow today. But then here we are, dancing in joy to the sound of the dhaak, paying farewell to Durga maa. A lot has changed over years, pujas have become more commercialised, yet the zeal remains the same,” said Gautam Sen Chaudhuri, secretary, East Bengal Displaced Persons’ Association. Hundreds of devotees lined up at the different ponds in Astha Kunj, Greater Kailash II and Chittaranjan Park that had been made to immerse the idols. The main pandals at CR Park — Kali Mandir Society, B Block, Pocket 52, Cooperative Durga Puja Samiti, Mela Ground and D&E blocks — had their own ponds, where the idols were immersed late in the evening. Till late at night, there were no reports of any unusual incidents related to the immersion. Over 50 clay idols were immersed in south Delhi alone. In east Delhi, around 38 sets of idols were consigned to the water in six ponds. Jayeeta of Alaknanda explained, “First, the idol of Durga is put in the water because she is the eldest. Then Laxmi and Saraswati as they are like her younger sisters. They are followed by sons Kartikeya and Ganesh. Idols with all of them in one frame are immersed together. The immersion marks daughter Durga’s going back to her husband’s abode in Kailash.” Saurabh Bharadwaj, Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Greater Kailash, who ensured that the immersions faced no hitches, said, “It’s a good thing that idols are immersed in the ponds, not the river. Earlier, the idols were immersed at Kalindi Kunj, but the arrangements here are much better. The women could also participate here in a safer and cleaner environment.” In east Delhi with its 38 Pujo samitis, there were two permanent ponds to consign the idols to. Mrinal Biswas, member of one of the puja organising committees, said, “There were six ponds created by Purbanchal Bangiyo Samiti with the support of the district magistrate (East) where 38 idols were immersed on Wednesday. There were some difficulties, yes, because the ponds were just 2-3 feet deep,” said Biswas. “We believe that two more permanent cemented ponds will help rather than six makeshift ones.”
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/out-of-covid-19-shadow-goddess-durga-gets-an-emotional-send-off/articleshow/94667982.cms