Ghats packed with devotees as festival culminates with immersion of the deity (Time of India 07 October 2011)

Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.26AM IST indrani.basu@timesgroup.com
Tags: South Delhi Joint Procession Committee
New Delhi: With unbridled enthusiasm, they danced to the fervent beat of drums and chanted Durga's name, before bidding adieu to their beloved goddess.
Four days of festivities culminated in Vijaya Dashami on Thursday as hundreds of devotees thronged the Yamuna ghats to immerse the idols.
The send-off was an elaborate affair, with men, women and children holding pots containing burning coconut husk and dancing in front of Durga's idols, in reverence to the goddess.
The immersion took place at four main ghats in the capital - Kalindi Kunj, Geeta Ghat, Kudsiya Ghat and Ramghat. The Kalindi Kunj ghat alone witnessed over 250 visarjans by various puja samitis from south Delhi, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida among others. "We have 135 puja samitis who have registered for visarjan at Kalindi Kunj Ghat this year. There are over 150 unregistered puja samitis who also brought their idols for immersion here," said Anjan Mukherjee, member of South Delhi Joint Procession Committee.
"Friday onwards, we will go back to our normal routine. Until then we are pulling out all stops and singing and dancing to our heart's content. At least 50 to 60 people from our puja pandal have come to the Kalindi Kunj ghat," said Shubha Goswami of Sarita Vihar puja pandal.
Each puja committee brought their teams comprising of young and the elderly to carry the idols to the river for immersion. Spinning the idol thrice for good fortune, devotees waded into the river and bid the goddess farewell with a heavy heart, their eyes moist with tears as the idol drifted away. "Vijayadashami is a bittersweet day for us. We are sad to see Ma Durga drift away after four days of non-stop celebrations and excitement. Her immersion has left a void in the heart of the devotees. The only consolation is that everyone is aware of the fact that the goddess will return next year, to fill us with joy and colour," said Niharika Roy.
Members of many puja committees were seen sporting T-shirts specially printed for their respective puja samitis.
Ashoka Enclave Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee of Faridabad had a team of 70 people from various walks of life coming to the ghat for the visarjan. "The committee boasts of engineers, chartered accountants, IT professionals, advertising professionals and school teachers. We are 85 families who love to organize Durga Puja and celebrate together. We are a very close-knit community, and this is why everyone wants to come to the ghat," said puja samiti cultural secretary Arjun Sengupta.