Lakhs throng puja pandals on Mahashtami

'Mahashtami', considered the most auspicious of the four-day-long Durga Puja festival, was ushered in today with 'anjali' to Goddess Durga in the morning and pandal hopping throughout the evening and night.
Revelers chanted hymns of the Goddess as people went to their local pandals to offer 'anjali' (prayer) before proceeding to other places to see idols of the Goddess and her four children, artworks, lights and for merriment.
At Belur Math on the banks of the river Hoooghly in neighbouring Howrah district, 'Kumari Puja' was held as per the custom started by the seer Ramakrishna Paramahansha in the late 19th century.

The puja, offered to a little girl symbolising the mother goddess by the Ramakrishna Mission monks, was watched by thousands of devotees before partaking of the 'mahaprasad'.
In the metropolis, colourfully-lit pandals with various art work and themes attracted children and old alike.
Several of the thousands of pandals are a tribute to excellent skill of artisans and their artistry -- both in terms of innovation in pandal-making and lighting.
Traffic snarls were seen at some places in the city, even as Kolkata Police personnel did their best to control the surging crowd towards the evening.
Eateries, whether star-rated or roadside, did great business with people thronging these to have their food of choice, from Chinese, Thai to Tandoori or Bengali cuisine.