The 10-day long Hindu festival celebrates the triumph of Goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishasura, and is grandly celebrated with great pomp and vigour across India.
Durga Puja 2021: Amidst the gloom and doom fuelled by the Covid-19 global health scare, a ray of hope beckons as India gears up for the much-awaited festive season. With festive mood across the places, the highly anticipated festival of Navratri began on Thursday, October 7
Navratri or Durga Puja is a time to come together as a country and celebrate the many colours of rich and vibrant tradition, rituals, and culture which has held us all together for centuries.
Here, we have curated a list of 7 places in India where this Hindu festival is celebrated in a grand manner with much pomp and show. Check them out
7 Places in India Where Durga Puja is Grandly Celebrated With Festive Fervour
- Kolkata (West Bengal)
Kolkata tops the list as the city is widely known for celebrating Durga Puja with much zeal and zest. During the Durga Puja celebrations in the state, you will be able to witness some of the country’s finest pandals here, that include stalls serving delectable Bengali cuisines and more. Likewise, the festive look of the entire city during the Puja celebrations turns extraordinary.
In fact, this year the city has installed an unique pandal at Sreebhumi Sporting Club. The club has designed an iconic 145 feet pandal in the Lake-town based on the theme of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
- Mumbai (Maharashtra)
Mumbai too celebrates Durga Puja, like other festivals, with so much festive fervour. The trend here, however, was first started by the Bengali community. They began celebrating Durga Puja in the city by erecting different pandals and celebrating the festival, just like in Kolkata. Now as the trend continues, you can also spot some of the celebrities visiting the pandals during the celebrations. Have you been to Mumbai during Durga Puja?
- Delhi
“Dilwalo ki Dilli” doesn’t lag behind either when it comes to celebrating a festival in a grand manner. And the most popular place in the city, to get the quintessential Kolkata feel, is CR Park. During these auspicious four days, people in the city go pandal-hopping to relish a variety of authentic Bengali cuisines. Besides, you can also visit the famous Ramlila Maidan on Dussehra, where Ravana’s effigies are burnt on that day.
- Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)
UP’s Varanasi celebrates this time of the year as the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana. You can see many children dressed up like Rama, Sita, Lakshman, and Hanuman during the festival. Varanasi gets immensely crowded during the festive season as not only people from across the country come together to celebrate the festival, but many sages also visit the city.
- Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)
Even though you will not spot pandals like West Bengal and Assam in Kullu, you will definitely witness people participating in processions, which take place mainly in the Dhalpur Maidan of Kullu Valley amidst the panoramic view of majestic mountains. Like the rest of North India, locals in Kullu also celebrate the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana. Go, enjoy the celebrations and relish the delicacies in this hill station.
- Guwahati (Assam)
After reeling under COVID-19 for more than a year, Assam is all set to celebrate Durga Puja this year. It is celebrated in almost all the regions of the state, and if you are keen to visit the Northeast this time, you can start with Guwahati. In Guwahati, this Hindu festival is celebrated with much fervour and grandeur, and you can visit different pandals to witness some of the best idols of Goddess Durga, and relish some local delicacies too.
- Patna (Bihar)
Here, beautiful glimpses of Bengal can be seen as huge idols of Goddess Durga is placed in pandals. The festivities began from October 7 here with ‘kalash sthapna’. It will conclude on October 15 with ‘Ravan vadh’ rituals. Several puja committees in the city are currently busy finalising the theme of their pandals with artistes and idols of goddess Durga among other major attractions to celebrate the Durga Puja, as per the reports.
Besides, Navratri is extensively celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh too. In these Southern states, this festival is known as Golu, Bomma Golu, or Bombay Habba. On the first day Lord Ganpati, Goddess Saraswathi, Goddess Parvati and Goddess Lakshmi are worshipped and on the ninth, Goddess Saraswathi.
