Rain dampens puja spirit in Odisha

Heavy rain, triggered by a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, played spoilsport at Durga Puja celebrations in coastal Odisha on Monday.

The intermittent showers kept the pandal hoppers away in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

The rain not only disappointed the revellers but dampened the spirit of the organisers, who have spent lakhs of rupees in erecting huge and glittering pandals (marquees) at various places in the twin cities.

They had expected huge crowds to turn up at their pandals on Mahanavami.

"I had planned to visit several pandals along with my family and have the darshan of Maa Durga. But the rain god played spoilsport. Now I have to wait till tomorrow to enjoy Durga Puja," said Hrudayananda Sahoo.

Narayan Mohapatra, secretary of Sahid Nagar Durga Puja Samiti, said a few people were seen visiting various pandals wearing raincoats and holding umbrellas. He expected that the footfalls would increase once the weather normalises.

Many areas in Bhubaneswar are water-logged due to the heavy rainfall.

A cyclonic circulation formed over the Bay of Bengal is likely to trigger rainfall across Odisha in the next 24 hours, predicts the local Met centre.

Rainfall or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places over north Odisha and a few places over south Odisha. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places over north Odisha, it said.

--IANS

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