GUWAHATI, Sept 18 - Pomp and grandeur marked the celebration of Biswakarma Puja across the State on Saturday with the enthusiasts revering the lord of divine engineering and architecture with much fanfare.
Celebrating the man-machine bonding, the puja holds great importance for the factories, industries, garages, workshops and also for the vehicle owners. Amid the divinity attached to it, the day is dedicated to the machines and mechanical setups that make work swift and easier for mankind.
Biswakarma Puja also marks the arrival of the festive season with the State donning a bridal look with illuminated buildings and decorated thoroughfares.
Guwahati, too, had a fair share of festivities yesterday with many big and small puja arrangements in almost every corner of the city. Idols of Biswakarma were installed in the puja pandals and rituals were performed with traditional fervour. Prasad and khichri distribution being integral to the festivity, arrangements were made for community feasting in the pandals.
Biswakarma Puja was celebrated in a grand manner in the Assam Tribune premises here by the employees and management of the organisation, with thousands of puja revellers thronging the campus throughout the day. The �Save Rhino� theme of the 69th edition of Biswakarma Puja celebration this year received a lot of appreciation from the visitors. While a rhino dummy adorned the Tribune campus conveying a message for protecting the endangered one-horned pachyderm in the State, a man dressed in a �rhino costume� attracted children to the venue.
Keeping with the tradition, a nagara naam programme was also organised in the evening, which was inaugurated by editor of Asam Bani, Dilip Chandan.
Other than commercial establishments, the puja was celebrated in the government offices, youth clubs and residential apartments, etc. The Dispur Press Club also celebrated the puja in a grand manner. Other than the rituals, a colourful cultural programme was organised in the evening. Performances by popular singers Babu, Jahnavi Das, Jitul Juman, and dance presentation by Violina Barua and Arup Kumar Mahanta enthralled the audience. The Directorate of Printing and Stationary is celebrating Biswakarma Puja with an elaborate three-day programme.
