Eerie silence, no ‘pushpanjali’, home delivered ‘bhog’ in Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 24 : While Durga Puja pandals have come up here and there in some areas of Delhi in very limited numbers this year, Ashtami or the eighth day of Navratri had a desolate look with no sense of festivity.
One such Durga Puja is by the Chanakyapuri Puja Samity held in the diplomatic enclave. A large sprawling pandal decorated in blood red and white, had virtually a handful of people. There was no Durga idol this time. Instead a photo of the Goddess was put up.
In fact, in the main Puja area, only a couple of people could be spotted, busy with the Puja. All in all, only 50 individuals are allowed to physically visit the pandal. Leave aside outsiders, even the locals outside these 50 can’t step in. What’s more, the entire Puja period is being videographed and sent to the concerned SDM every evening as evidence. All this, thanks to the raging pandemic and subsequent SOPs.
The main area where the Puja takes place or the sanctum sanctorum is acessible to only 5 people at a time, from among those in the Puja committee.
Arundhati Banerjee stays in Kalkaji and is also a member of a dance group that performs each year in Durga Puja. This time, Banerjee is understandably heartbroken. “This time I haven’t gone pandal hopping as there are very few pandals. Most places are doing a ‘ghat Puja’ as a symbolic gesture. Moreover, only select residents are allowed where idols are being kept and outsiders are completely kept out,” Banerjee told IANS.
However, she has another reason to lament as there is no ‘bhog’ or ‘khichdi prasad’ that are offered on ‘Ashtami’, on Durga Puja. Even in Chanakyapuri, no ‘bhog’ was available this time. Only food packets were kept which are given on condition that the food will be eaten only once the recipient reaches home.