Men, mostly donning the festive attire of kurta and pyjama, and women, resplendent in bright saris, greeted friends, relatives and other acquaintances, clicked selfies and idled away time with banter and fun, soaking in the infectious carnival spirit.
At the marquees and the households worshipping the Goddess, people ate 'bhog' (community feast of food items offered to the Goddess first), comprising a varied spread from 'luchis' (deep fried puffed bread) to 'khichuri', vegetable items, to fish and even mutton.
The religious rituals of Mahanavami or ninth lunar day began around 10 p.m. on Thursday after the end of Sandhi Puja held at the confluence of Mahaashtami (eighth lunar day) and Mahanavami.
As per Hindu mythology, Goddess Durga killed Chando and Mundo -- two 'asuras' (demons) at the confluence (Sandhi) of the two days. The Goddess was worshipped as the undefeated - and offered her favourite food items.
This was followed by Maha Arti. In many of the traditional households celebrating the festival, 'yagna' (rituals before the sacred fire) was organised before the morning puja rituals came to an end.
As evening descended, revellers of all ages again hit the streets, visiting the prominent marquees.
Many looked desperate, trying to visit as many community puja marquees as possible, with the festival slated to come to an end on Saturday with the immersion of the idols on Vijaya Dashami.
The marquee in south Kolkata's Deshapriya Park, depicting the Wat Rong Khun or the White temple in Thailand, was a traffic stopper.
Close by, the Tridhara Sammilani marquee also was a crowd puller. The organisers brought out the curse of the mechanised world that has pushed Mother Nature to the back seat, with the goddess arriving with saplings of plants and rain water along with birds to restore the ecological balance.
Another big draw in south Kolkata was the Selimpur Pally marquee themed on the concept of "Anuranan" - meaning the resonance of sound that is deep, filling and reverberating.
The entire canopy is adorned with strings of music notations, besides the depiction of time's wheel.
The five-day carnival is the biggest annual event in this part of the world when even newspapers are not published and roads are choked with human traffic throughout day and night.
According to Bengali tradition, Durga Puja begins with the symbolic arrival of Goddess Durga on Earth along with her sons Kartik and Ganesha and daughters Saraswati and Laxmi on Sashthi and ends on Dashami, celebrated across the country as Dussehra.
Traditionally, idols of Goddess Durga depict her as slaying demon Mahishasur. She is shown astride a lion and wielding an array of weapons in her 10 arms.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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