Women devotees play with vermilion in Dinajpur as Durga is bid a tearful farewell

On Bijoya Dashami, the final day of the Sharodiya Durga festival, devotees in Dinajpur bid farewell to Goddess Durga amid the traditional vermilion play. After five days of worship, Hindu devotees said goodbye to the goddess with tearful eyes on Wednesday (21 October).

On Wednesday morning, the vermilion play was organised at the Durga mandap in the Basuniapatti area of Dinajpur town. Women devotees took part, applying vermilion to the goddess's forehead and feet as they sought her blessings.

The devotees then applied vermilion to one another's foreheads and faces, sharing the joy of the festival. The mandap premises resounded with the beats of dhak drums, kansar cymbals and conch shells.

As they bid the goddess farewell through the vermilion play, the women's faces showed a mixture of joy and sorrow. The joy of the festival on one side and the pain of parting on the other created an emotional atmosphere at the mandap, and many women were seen praying before the goddess with tearful eyes.

According to religious belief, Goddess Durga symbolises the destruction of evil forces and the establishment of good. Every autumn, her arrival spreads a festive mood among Hindu devotees. After spending the festival days in joy with family and relatives, the farewell on Bijoya Dashami becomes an emotional moment for devotees.

Women at the mandap said Durga Puja is not only a religious festival for them; it is also an occasion of joy, harmony and togetherness. Through the vermilion play they prayed for the happiness, peace, prosperity and well-being of their families, and hoped to welcome the goddess again with joy next year.

On the occasion of Bijoya Dashami, various religious rituals, including the goddess's darpan immersion and Bijoya anjali, were performed in the morning. With vermilion play, worship and Bijoya greetings, the Sharodiya Durga Puja, the main religious festival of the Hindu community, drew to a close in Dinajpur.

Later in the afternoon, the formal end of this year's festival will come with the immersion of the idols. Necessary preparations have been made at the mandaps for the immersion.

The five-day festival will end with the farewell to Goddess Durga, but its memories, joy and emotion will remain in devotees' hearts. At the moment of parting, everyone's voice will carry the hope of the goddess's return next year.