Basanti Durga Puja: Silver City worships Goddess Durga in spring

Cuttack: Not only the famous Dusshera, Cuttack also gets agog during the Basanti Durga Puja that is observed with same religious fervour during the spring season.

Several puja pandals across the city are now decked up while special rituals were performed on the occasion of ‘Dasami’, the last day of the four day festival that draws devotees from different parts of the State.

“The ‘Millennium City’ Cuttack is famous for ‘Chandi Medha’ or the silver tableaux during Durga Puja and many devotees and tourists throng the city during the festival in September or October. But Maa Durga is also worshiped at Puja Mandaps during the spring season here which is quite interesting,” Prakash Das, a devotee from Jajpur.

Among all the Mandaps where Goddess Durga is worshipped during Basanti Durga Puja, the Siba Prasad Bhagat Trust at Balu Bazar in Cuttack claims to be the one of oldest to start the Basanti Durga Puja tradition in the city.

“We have been organising the Puja since 1931. Maa Basanti Durga was worshipped for the first time at this Mandap in Cuttack. Golden Crown is the speciality of our Mandap where the Goddess is being worshipped for last 88 years which assumes much religious significance for the devotees,” said Jitendra Jaiswal, a member of Siba Prasad Bhagat Trust.

Apart from this, Basanti Durga Puja is observed in several pandals at Chandini Chowk, Choudhury Bazar, Dargha Bazar and Bidanasi.