The beginning of October marks the start of the festive season, as festivals start rolling out one after the other. While some people are excited about the long festival of Navaratri, some are all set to celebrate Durga puja. Other than these, of course, there is the tradition of Ram-Leela that brings out the actor in many. This month the national capital becomes a happening place to visit for one. Delhiites get to choose between which of the numerous pandals they want to visit in the city as well or where to visit for Dandiya night celebrations or Ram-Leela enactments.

Durga puja

Speaking about her plans for this eventful time, Riya Gupta, a college student says, “Since my childhood, my grandmother had told me various stories of Ram and these 9 days mark the journey that he overtook to lead to the victory of good over evil. Since then my family and I go to watch the famous Ramayan Jhakis that happen at Chandni Chowk and are performed by the locals. It’s an amazing experience for me to get in touch with my mythical roots.” For her, this is a tradition. Another Delhiite, Rishabh Sharma, celebrated his festival season by visiting his best friend’s society and says, “It was super fun and we danced till our feet hurt. It was a lovely day with everyone dressed up and eating tasty food.”

Hanika Arora organised a dandiya night in Gurugram by dancing to folk tunes as well as the latest Bollywood Dandiya numbers. “There were women decked up in lehenga cholis and men in traditional kedias. They looked just perfect while performing Garba together at dandiya nights,” she recalls. She also says, “There were around 2000 participants from all over Gurugram and the event not only had Garbha enthusiasts but also had over 80 shopping stalls from all over Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Ludhiana which came together to showcase their latest Diwali offerings.”

The Bengalis are gearing up for the biggest four days of the year too. Shekhar Ghosh, an executive member of Gaur city Bengali Cultural Association, says that this will be the fourth year of celebrating Durga Puja in his society and there are around 300 Bengali families associated with this cultural event. Ghosh says, “Our event starts from October 3 and there will be many food stalls set up where people can enjoy sweets and home-made food by society people. The society is open to all for Durga maa’s darshan.” He that his family doesn’t prepare food for 5 days in their home so that they can enjoy food in pandal in their society. Ghosh believes that this festival is a great way of building a strong bond with one’s family as everyone comes together and enjoys the events with their family.