The auspicious occasion of Mahalaya in Kolkata saw a large number of people thronging to the Ganga and Hoogly ghats early in the morning for performing the tarpan ritual. Tarpan is a practice of making offerings to the pitrs or departed forefathers and ancestors by taking a tip in the holy water. This ritual takes place every year on the morning of Mahalaya, the day that marks the last day of ‘Shradh’ before Kolkata’s biggest festival, the Durga Puja. This year Mahalaya was celebrated on September 17. The cops and civil bodies had made arrangements to ensure that people followed the safety norms while performing tarpan. But the ghats got so jampacked with people that it got challenging for them bring the situation under control. Many were flouting the social distancing rules. Some of them did not wear face masks either.
Kolkata People Flout Social Distancing Norms While Performing Tarpan Ritual
On the early morning of September 17, numerous people flocked to the holy ghats of Ganga and Hoogly in Kolkata to make tarpan offerings to their departed forefathers. This year, due to the coronavirus situation, the authorities had taken special measures to make people follow to norms of social distancing. But many people in the ghats were neither wearing masks nor using the sanitizing channels. As per reports, a senior police officer of one of the ghats said, “As the gathering was huge, it was difficult to ensure that everyone wore masks and maintained social distance.” Meanwhile, three pandals in Kolkata are offering drive-in Durga Puja to ensure socially distanced pandal hopping.
people need to be more sensible and learn the alternatives. My father did Ganga Abahan and performed Tarpan at home following social distancing and fulfilling all religious requirements.
— Gourav Bose (@GouravBose7) September 17, 2020
Also Read: From Oct 22 To 26, Here’s How Kolkata Is Celebrating Durga Puja This Year
The Negligence Of The City People Disappointed The Netizens Too
Every year, during the tarpan ritual, many photographers rush to the ghats to click beautiful pictures of the ritual with the majestic Ganges in the backdrop. The pictures usually grab a large number of likes and praises on social media platforms. But this year, many people expressed their disappointment and concerns when the snaps of the overcrowded ghats started doing rounds on social media. One user wrote, “I understand emotions and all. But we should have really skipped Tarpan this year. Ghats are full of people with no social distancing, no mask. Really Sad. #Mahalaya2020.”
I understand emotions and all. But we should have really skipped Tarpan this year. Ghats are full of people with no social distancing, no mask. Really Sad. #Mahalaya2020
— Sneha Saha (@sahas1301) September 17, 2020
Another stated, “People need to be more sensible and learn the alternatives. My father did Ganga Abahan and performed Tarpan at home following social distancing and fulfilling all religious requirements.
Also Read: Here’s How Durga Puja Is Being Celebrated All The Way In The Netherlands With HoiChoi
Every year Mahalaya falls seven days before Sasti, the time when the actual Durga Puja celebration starts. This year, Mahalaya was on September 17. But puja is starting 35-days later on October 22 and will continue till 26th. This unusual gap between Mahalaya and Sasti was also seen in 2001 and 1982. Kolkata puja organisers are planning to celebrate Durga Puja 2020 with smaller pandals and idols, minimal interior decorations of the pandals and minimum lighting at nights, to prevent the gathering of people. Having said that, it’s best to enjoy Durga Puja on a low key this year to combat the spread of coronavirus. The festivities can wait, the infection won’t. For now, here are 6 must-try Bengali dishes, if you visit Kolkata during Durga Puja next year: