West Bengal celebrates Vijaya Dashami

Teary-eyed devotees touched her feet one last time as people across West Bengal bade goodbye to their beloved mother goddess Durga as her idols were immersed in ponds, lakes and rivers on Vijaya Dashami Friday.

Immersion of the idols of goddess Durga and her four children -- Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik -- symbolises the end of the goddess's annual sojourn to her paternal home and her return to her husband Lord Shiva at their heavenly abode in Mount Kailash.

Married women decked in the ritualistic red-and-white sarees marked the event with the customary "Sindoor Khela" or smearing each other and the idols with red vermillion to prepare the goddess and her clan for their long journey home, as dhaaks (traditional drums) played on in the background.

People offered sweets to the goddess and prayed for the well-being of their families.

President Pranab Mukherjee, who celebrated Durga Puja at his ancestral village Mirati in Birbhum district, extended his greetings on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami.

There was a festive look on the banks of the Ganges and other water bodies, with spirited chants of "Bolo Durga Mai Ki Jai" adding to the fervour.

Children, the young and the elderly joined hands to slowly put the idols into the water as they wished for her return next year.

While most of the idols in residential apartments or houses of one-time zamindars were being immersed Friday, a large number of the 2700 community puja organisers have decided to undertake the immersion ceremony Saturday.

Cranes were deployed at ghats to lift and extricate the remains of idols from the river to avoid pollution. Additional lights have been put up at the immersion ghats. Flowers, and metallic weapons of the goddess were deposited in separate vats to avoid polluting the river.