JORHAT, Oct 7 - A partly cloudy day with mild sunshine today after nearly 10 days of intermittent showers brought cheers to puja revellers as they came out to temples and pandals on Saptami.
Though there was not a heavy rush in the first half of the day, but the number of people on the streets swelled as the day progressed with the weather not playing a spoilsport.
The puja fervour was at its best with 87 puja pandals in and around the Jorhat town colourfully decked up and makeshift kiosks full of toys and foodstuff dotting up beside the streets. Hindi Bollywood and popular Assamese numbers in high decibels were adding to the festive mood.
As evening descended more people came out for puja hopping as the pandals and temples organising puja were illuminating the areas by installing various kinds of attractive lighting arrangements.
Early in the morning, the 225-year-old Buri Goshani Dewal temple in the heart of the town witnessed a little pace of devotees coming to offer their obeisance to the goddess at the Ahom-era temple.
The Police department to ensure a smooth and safe movement of puja hoppers have closed most of the roads in the town to vehicular traffic allowing only pedestrians during the puja days.
Apart from deployment of sufficient police personnel including women staff, makeshift control rooms of police have been put up across the town to monitor the situation.
CCTV cameras have been installed in the pandals and at several spots identified as vulnerable by the police.
A senior police official said that policemen in civvies too were also moving across the town to prevent eve-teasing by rowdy elements.
