GUWAHATI, Oct 23 - Stripped of all its grandeur amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Durga Puja is being celebrated across the State in a sombre manner, with meagre footfall witnessed in pandals on the day of Saptami on Friday. Along with the COVID-19 induced crisis, weather played spoilsport, with moderate to heavy rainfall occuring throughout the day in many parts of the State, including Guwahati.
Even as the festive atmosphere was missing from the pandals and temples, the rituals were performed amid a spiritual ambience, seeking divine blessings for the return of normalcy and the end of the crisis. Goddess Kalratri � believed to be the fiercest form of the Mother Goddess � is worshipped on Saptami, the seventh day of Navratri. Kamakhya temple, which would have been transformed into a sea of humanity in normal times, was visited by only 922 devotees on Friday. The temple management has allowed darshan inside the sanctum sanctorum after rapid antigen tests for COVID-19. A total of 646 COVID-19 tests were conducted at Kamakhya temple on Friday. The tests done for the purpose of entering the temple is valid for three days.
�It�s an extraordinary situation. In the wildest of dreams, we could not have imagined this less number of devotees at Kamakhya during Durga Puja. However, since the restrictions are for the safety of people, we need to follow each and every step of the COVID-19 guidelines,� Mohit Chandra Sarma, head priest of Kamakhya temple, told The Assam Tribune.
Community puja organisers have been asked to strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines at the pandals, total sanitisation twice a day, ensuring social distancing and use of masks as well as adequate supply of sanitisers for the devotees visiting the temples.
Decorations have been kept at a minimum to discourage large gatherings, while there is strict restriction on holding fairs, and setting up kiosks and roadside eateries.
�Fairs, big idols and grand pandals are the largest crowd-pullers. Since we don�t have any of these this time, there were negligible visitors at puja pandals today. During the daytime, only the family which extended today�s offerings visited the puja venue, apart from media persons and puja committee members. Towards evening, however, some visitors came to offer prayers,� said BP Das, secretary of the Latasil Durga Puja Committee.
The Shantipur Sluice Gate Sarbajanin Durga Puja, which used to witness huge gatherings on all the puja days, also saw very less visitors, said committee member Jiten Medhi.
