Kanpur: Devotees will celebrate the first day of Shardiya Navratri on Sunday, with elaborate preparations underway at temples and Durga Puja pandals across the city. The nine-day festival dedicated to Goddess Durga will begin with Ghatasthapana and the installation of idols in homes and public pandals.According to Vishwa Bandhu Bajpai, the auspicious period for Ghatasthapana on the first day will be from 8.05am to 12.24pm.Pt Divyanshu Dwivedi said the Devi Purana attaches significance to the goddess’s vehicle, depending on the day of her arrival and departure. As Navratri begins on a Sunday this year, the goddess is believed to arrive on an elephant, considered an auspicious sign associated with good rainfall, a bumper harvest, prosperity and abundance. The festival will conclude on a Tuesday.Meanwhile, major Durga temples across the city are making special arrangements to manage the expected rush of devotees. Barricades have been installed at Bara Devi and Tapeshwari Devi temples, where the managements expect more than 10,000 devotees daily. Police have also made security and crowd-management arrangements, while traffic restrictions have been imposed around prominent temples.Around 327 Durga Puja pandals are being set up across Kanpur. Major installations will come up at AB Vidyalaya on Mall Road, DAV Lawn, Moti Jheel, Kali Bari temple in Chakeri, Kidwai Nagar, Phool Bagh, Shyam Nagar and Armapur Ordnance Equipment Factory, among other locations.Durga Puja tradition dates back to 18th centuryDurga Puja celebrations in Kanpur are believed to date back to the 18th century. The tradition is said to have been introduced by a Bengali family after Krishna Chandra Majumdar arrived from West Bengal and settled in the city in 1783, during the East India Company era. The locality where his family lived later came to be known as Bengali Mohal. The Majumdar family is credited with laying the foundation for Bengali-style Durga Puja celebrations in Kanpur.Bengali-style Durga Puja continues to be organised at AB Vidyalaya, Kali Bari temple, Kali Mathia temple and Armapur. Pandals are decorated around Bengali themes, with traditional rituals observed throughout the festival. Dhak players are brought from Bengal to perform the distinctive percussion music associated with the celebrations.Sindoor Khela, a traditional ritual observed towards the conclusion of Durga Puja, remains another key feature of the festivities.
