‘Aarti’ performed at Delhi’s Jhandewalan temple to mark first day of ‘Navratri’

New Delhi [India]: An ‘aarti’ was performed at Delhi’s Jhandewalan temple on Sunday to mark the first day of the Navratri festival.

Devotees also gathered at the temple to get a glimpse of ‘Maa Durga’.

Dussehra will be celebrated on October 24 with the culmination of ‘Navratri’ on that day.
Meanwhile, preparations for the Durga Puja are also underway across the nation.

The Durga Puja pandal of ‘Pathurighata Pancher Palli’ in Kolkata is breaking boundaries and a few taboos surrounding menstruation with its Menstrual Hygiene-themed pandal this year.

Another pandal in Kolkata’s Nakatala showcases the plight of families during the India-Bangladesh partition in 1971.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district, pandals and eye-catching statues of Goddess Durga have been prepared in view of the festivals.

A Bengali artisan, Atul Pal, is known for creating the ‘Raudra’ form of Goddess Durga along with his team. People come to him in Indore from many districts in the state to get idols prepared for the festival.

Atul told media, “I along with a team of 25 people of Bengali artisans made Ganesh idols for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival and Goddess Durga idols for the Navratri festival.

Preparations for the making of idols start six months before the festival begins and the most attractive sculptures are made at our place.”