Durga Puja is made for the camera. Illuminated pandals, elaborate decorations, steaming plates of bhog and smiling faces fill social media feeds, presenting a celebration seemingly untouched by inconvenience.
Away from the perfect frame, however, the festival can look very different - bumper-to-bumper traffic, endless queues, overflowing bins and exhausted visitors waiting for a glimpse of the Goddess.
For many pandal-hoppers in Guwahati, the journey has been as memorable as the destination, though not always for the right reasons.
At some of the city’s popular venues, the rush on Mahasashthi tested crowd-management arrangements.
The Bishnupur Sarbajanin Durga Puja recorded a footfall of nearly 1.5 lakh visitors on the opening day, with crowds thronging the venue until 5 am on Saturday.
“There was an enormous crowd at Bishnupur. We visited late at night, yet the rush was overwhelming. It took us a long time to reach the idol,” said visitor Nibedita Das.
She acknowledged that queues were being managed and volunteers were coordinating the movement of visitors, but said the sheer volume of people made the experience exhausting.
For those hoping to visit several pandals in one evening, traffic threatened to consume more time than the celebrations themselves.
“We were stuck in traffic for nearly an hour just to cover a short stretch. You plan your evening around visiting pandals, but end up spending most of it inside a vehicle,” said local resident Abhishek Sarma.
“The traffic was exhausting. Even after reaching the area, finding parking was another challenge. The festival is enjoyable, but the congestion takes away much of the excitement,” said another visitor, Bhaskar Dutta.
The cleanup behind the celebration
The crowds bring another challenge, waste. Food wrappers, disposable plates, plastic bottles and other litter can accumulate quickly around busy venues.
Keeping the premises clean requires more than a few dustbins; it demands regular collection, coordination and sufficient manpower.
At Bishnupur Sarbajanin Durga Puja, committee volunteers work alongside NCC personnel and local police to manage crowds and traffic.
The committee has around 25 volunteers, while the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and local workers handle garbage collection.
Visitors throng the Latasil Sarbajanin Durga Puja on Sashthi day (Photo: Kangkan Bordoloi)
A committee member acknowledged that municipal cleaning had not always kept pace with the influx of visitors.
“The committee had approached the local councillor over delays and asked local volunteers to clear accumulated waste,” the member said, adding that women members also regularly help clean the premises.
At Latasil Sarbajanin Puja, organisers have adopted a more structured approach. Sixteen NCC cadets and eight private security personnel are deployed for crowd management.
Stall operators are instructed to keep garbage bags, while waste is collected at a central point for pickup by the GMC. The local councillor is also supporting the committee’s waste-management efforts.
At Chattribari, organisers say designated entry and exit points help regulate crowds. Dustbins have been provided, and thermocol is avoided to reduce waste.
However, municipal inspections are limited, with an official reportedly visiting on Ashtami or Navami to assess cleanliness.
These arrangements underline how much the success of a large public celebration depends on coordination between organisers, municipal authorities, security personnel and volunteers.
Keeping the festival cleaner
Some organisers have also sought to reduce the environmental footprint of the rituals themselves. The Noonmati Sarbajanin Puja Committee uses a permanent marble Durga idol, eliminating the need for its immersion.
“Only the kolgos (banana plant) used is immersed,” a committee member said.
The approach reduces immersion-related waste, but everyday challenges remain. The bylane leading to the temple is closed to vehicles, requiring visitors to walk to the venue.
Around 25 to 30 volunteers help manage the crowds, while four dustbins have been installed to encourage responsible disposal of waste.
Bhog distribution across the temple’s first and second floors also helps organisers regulate the movement of visitors.
Visitors queue up to reach a puja pandal in Athgaon (AT Video)
Yet even carefully planned arrangements face pressure when footfall surges. Volunteers must direct queues, prevent congestion and keep visitors moving safely, often while dealing with noise, heat and fatigue themselves.
In a nutshell, the Instagram version of Durga Puja captures the glow of the lights and the grandeur of the Goddess.
The unfiltered version includes traffic that refuses to move, queues that barely advance and workers sweeping up after midnight.
The challenge is not to take the joy out of the festival, but to ensure that the experience remains safe, accessible and clean for everyone.
After all, a successful Puja should not be measured only by how beautiful a pandal looks in a photograph, but also by how responsibly it welcomes visitors and how clean it remains after they leave.