Lakhs Throng Durga Puja Pandals Across Bengal On 'Maha Nabami'

Many community and household pujas organised lunches for local residents during the day, while cultural programmes were held at several pandals in the evening.

Large gathering of devotees at a Community Durga puja pandal in Kolkata (Image Source: PTI) ( Image Source :PTI )

Revellers soaked in the festive spirit on Tuesday, as they made a beeline outside popular Durga Puja pandals across Kolkata and West Bengal on ‘Maha Nabami’, the penultimate day of the four-day festival. As dusk set in, crowds swelled at iconic marquees like Sribhumi Sporting Club, Ekdalia Evergreen, Santosh Mitra Square, Baghbazar Sarbojonin, Chetla Agrani and Mudiali Sarbojonin.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted people on the occasion of ‘Maha Nabami’.

"On today’s auspicious occasion, I pray that Maa Durga bestows her choicest blessings upon us. Let us all embrace the festive spirit with our near and dear ones," she tweeted.

The pujas organised by the erstwhile aristocrats of the city like those at Sovabazar Rajbari, Laha Bari, Pathuriaghata Rajbari and Sabarno Roy Chowdhury Bari also attracted huge crowds, including foreign tourists.

Many community and household pujas organised lunches for local residents during the day, while cultural programmes were held at several pandals in the evening.

“We are so thankful to god that the weather improved today with almost no rain the whole day. I had to make up for the previous two days, when me and my family missed out on seeing some of the best pandals in the city due to intermittent rainfall. It will be an all-night pandal hopping today,” said Rima Sikdar, a resident of Garia.

There was, however, moderate to heavy rain in Malda, Jalpaiguri and Dakshin Dinajpur districts, officials said.

“I had a great time at Santosh Mitra Square where they have set up a replica of Delhi’s Red Fort with the light and sound show, too. The Vatican City replica at Sribhumi Sporting Club was also worth the wait at the long queue,” Subhajit Banerjee, a software professional, said.

Visitors were also seen in large numbers in other cities of the state, including Siliguri, Cooch Behar, Durgapur, Asansol, Bardhaman and Kharagpur.

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)