Meghalaya celebrates Durga Puja in Nartiang

Shillong, Sep 30 (UNI) There is an air of festivity in Shillong. Durga the daughter of the mountains truly comes home to this hill city of the Eastern Himalayan region.

Meghalaya is also home to one of the oldest Durga temples in the country, the Nartiang Durga temple in Jaintia Hills, set up by the Jaintia Kings some 500 years ago.

The temple is a very simple and austere looking made of baked bricks and situated right in the heart of the village.

Some portions of the wall are still intact while the southern portion is in dilapidated state.

Nartiang, the erstwhile summer capital of the Jaintia monarchs, is also a historical and spiritual destination, where Durga puja is celebrated in the traditional Khasi style.

The image of the mother goddess, represented by a decorative plantain trunk, is immersed into the sacred waters of the Myntang River on the last day of the festival.

Vintage guns boom, sending puffs of smoke into the air amidst the clanging of cymbals and brass gongs.

Goddess Durga is thus bade farewell on her return journey to her abode in the snowy mountains of Makashang (the Khasi name for the Himalaya).

Perched on a hilltop is the 500-year-old temple of Ma Durga, while nearby is a temple of Lord Shiva and Hishari where vintage cannons of the Sutnga or Jaintia kings are preserved.

Meanwhile, the haunting beat of the dhak reverberates through the hills with people cutting across caste, creed and religion visiting the decorated Puja pandals in the capital city and the suburbs.

A unique event held every year in the city is the pre-puja get-together of harmony. Representatives of every major religion in the world, NGOs and public leaders address the gathering stressing on peace, tolerance and social harmony.

The Puja evenings are rendered joyous with every puja committee organising cultural programmes.

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