Navratri celebrations begin at Thakurbari

ANUSHA GURUNG
GANGTOK, 16 Oct: Navaratra Shree Durga Bhawani Puja cum Vijaya Dashmi celebrations began here at Thakurbari Mandir by Gangtok Thakur Bari Durga Puja Committee [GTDPC]. The said puja will continue till 24 October.
The puja has been organised at Thakurbari for the last 80 years, informed the president of the organizing committee, Kiran Rasaily during a press meet today.
“This Mandir occupies about 1 acre of land which was donated by Sir Tashi Namgyal and earlier the puja used to be organised by Late Rashmi Prasad Alay accompanied by his colleagues like Chatur Singh, BP Rai, Raj Pradhan and others here in the same premise”, informed Mr Rasaily.
This time Mr Rasaily will be donating a statue of Maa Durga which is being crafted by Krishna Nagar artists.
He added that this time the residents of the town itself have organized this puja and the funds generated will be used in organizing the puja next year.
Today, a ‘Jamara’ [maize sapling] was also placed in the mandir. The arati is held between 10:30 AM-11:00 AM in the morning and in the evening between 7:00 PM-7:30 PM. The bhajan will begin just before the arati.
On the 9th day, that is Nawami, a bhog will be organised and 9 under ten year old girls will be worshipped. They will also be offered clothes and some offerings of money.