Lucknow: Day-long rituals at pandals, temples mark Ashtami puja

By- Godhooli Sharma
LUCKNOW: There was an air of celebration as devotees thronged Durga Puja pandals and formed serpentine queues at temples to perform Maha Ashtami Puja or Durga Ashtami on Wednesday.
At Ramakrishna Math, puja began at 5am amid reverberation of ‘shehnai’ (clarinet), followed by Kumari Puja.
Remembering Goddess Durga in her ‘Chamunda’ (the form which killed demons Chand and Munda) avatar, various puja committees performed sandhi puja-—an intersection of the last 24 minutes of Maha Ashtami and first 24 minutes of Maha Navmi, when Devi kills Mahishasura in 48 minutes.

To invoke the blessings of the goddess, 108 earthen lamps are lit, 108 lotus flowers, fruits and several vegetables are ritualistically offered. The legend behind the offering is associated with Lord Ram.
“He worshipped Durga in her Mahishasur Mardini Avatar to seek her blessings to defeat Ravana. Sandhi puja is conducted to purify one’s sins,” said Rajat Mukherjee, a devotee.
Trisha Sinha, assistant general manager of Bengali Club, said, “After aarti, we organised dhak reverberation.”
Shyamoli Banerjee at Vidyant Degree College said, “This pandal is really special to me because my parents conducted my naming ceremony here 25 years back.”
Aarti Chaddha, at a pandal near Ghasiyari Mandi, was also nostalgic. “I used to sit on my father’s shoulders and go pandal hopping. Today, I have come here with my daughter.”