Guwahati: Conch shells, ululation and the steady beat of the dhak rolled across Guwahati and Assam over the weekend. Maa Durga took her place in hundreds of pandals, and the autumn festival that the people wait for all year is now underway.
The pran pratistha of the goddess was held across the state on Maha Shashthi on Friday, with Maha Saptami following on Saturday. More than 500 public and personal pujas are being held in Guwahati this year. The season itself has helped set the mood, with clear skies, blooming kash flowers, the fragrance of shiuli, and a hint of early autumn chill in the air.
Few pandals have drawn as much curiosity on the opening days as the one at Bishnupur, where the High School puja committee has taken the celebrations onto the water. To mark 75 years of the puja, the organisers built a floating pandal on a lake around a “Naglok” theme, and devotees began arriving on Maha Shashthi on Friday. Visitors reach the pandal by boat, with the committee arranging several for the purpose. The entrance is a Shivling placed beneath a waterfall, and inside, a sculpture of the Naag Devtas greets visitors. The pandal is eco-friendly and was built on a budget of Rs 25 lakh.
Elsewhere in the city, organisers are competing to outdo each other with themes.
In Pandu, the Pandu Rest Camp Kalibari Sarbajanin Durga Puja, now in its 78th year, has built a modern pandal inspired by a museum in Thailand on a budget of about Rs 60 lakh, with a 19-foot idol. Nearby, the Jay Hind Club has recreated the Ram Temple of Ayodhya for around Rs 40 lakh. A team of 24 young artisans from West Bengal, led by artist Biplab Sinha, worked on it for nearly three months.
Latasil is celebrating its golden jubilee. Its pandal is modelled on the Kedarnath Temple, with artists from Alipurduar building the structure and a clay idol crafted by artisans from West Bengal. Visitors can expect nagara naam, puppet shows and traditional drumming.
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Some committees chose to make a point. Geetanagar, in its 51st year, has built its pandal around the floods that hit Nepal and Upper Assam. In Kahilipara, which is also marking its 51st edition, the committee has brought Maa Durga together with a Jungle Book theme. North Bhaskar Nagar is drawing attention with a 35-foot idol.
Tradition holds its own among the spectacle. At the Durga Chandika Temple in Borbari Bishnupur, the 20th edition of the puja uses 108 sacred ghats instead of an idol. Several temples and Shakti Peethas across Assam similarly follow old customs, worshipping the goddess through banana plants, bamboo, and ritual pots rather than clay idols.
The celebrations extend well beyond the city. The Amolapatty Rajohuwa Namghar in Dibrugarh, which has held a community Durga Puja for over 150 years, is hosting its 156th edition. In Nagaon, workers were putting up a pandal themed “The Illusion of Machines” earlier this week.
The crowds came early. From the Brahmaputra valley to the Barak valley, people were seen thronging pandals in large numbers, and markets reported heavy footfall as families made last-minute purchases. Organisers say the weekend and the days around Ashtami and Navami will bring the biggest rush.
The mood is not untouched by grief. Many in Assam are still mourning singer Zubeen Garg, who died last year, and his fans continue to seek justice for him. Even so, devotees say the festival has once again drawn people together, with prayers and community celebration at its heart.
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