Mahishasuramardini Jai Maa Durge

Today is Maha Saptami. Assam has geared up and started celebrating Durga Puja this year with great excitement on Maha Saptami.Saptami puja has started in all the pandals of the city early morning on Thursday. After weeks of preparations Durga Puja revelry began all across the state on Wednesday as the idols of Goddess Durga and her entourage comprising of her children Lakhsmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh were placed in various Puja pandals and the initial Sashti rituals performed. However, what is sure to catch the eye of pandal hoppers this time is the competition among the Puja pandals to bring out the best of their creativity and themes. The 'Bodhon' rituals including the unveiling of the face of the idol along with Amontron and Adhibas were conducted at various Puja pandals on Wednesday evening. This year Durga Puja will present the pandal hoppers an opportunity to get the best view of design and aesthetic wonder. The Fatashil Bishnupur Durga Puja which is celebrating 75 years has a 31 feet tall idol of Goddess Durga with 28 hands with the Goddess holding a lotus in each hand. Apart from that are the decorative lighting for which the committee spent more than 9 lakh rupees. Meanwhile, the Bamunimaidam Puja Committee has constructed a Puja pandal symbolizing the Pyramids of Egypt. Apart from the usual lighting there will be live mechanical movement of the idol. The Latashil Puja Committee has also put up a pandal recreating the Lotus Temple of Delhi.   While this pandal on your television screen is the replica of the Karnataka Assembly at the Gitamandir High School playground. While the Puja organized by the Shantipur Swiss gate Durga Puja Committee have taken Titanic as the theme and interestingly the entire pandal will be centralized air conditioned. The entire cost of the pandal is around 10 lakh rupees. These are only a few pandals of the around 500 pandals across Guwahati, and more than 25 crore rupees will be spent by the Puja organizers in the next four days of Durga Puja celebrations.