The continuous showers on the last three days of the 10- day long Durga Puja celebrations could not dampen the spirits of the revellers of the City. Even though the weather decided to play a spoilt sport during the festivities, people still thronged the popular puja pandals of Ranchi
According to the Meteorological Centre Ranchi, from October 6 to October 8, thunderstorms with light to moderate rainfall activity was predicted in the afternoons and late evening hours. The total amount of rainfall recorded in Ranchi on these three days was estimated to be around 45 mm.
In spite of the sporadic showers, residents of Ranchi dressed in their puja finery, headed towards the various puja pandals across the City on Ashtami, Navami and the last day- Dusshera.“Even though it was raining, one cannot skip pandal hopping because of the showers. On our way to the Ranchi railway station puja pandal, when it did start raining a little heavily, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and only stepped out when the rain God’s permitted. Because of the rains, it was quite murky and slushy to walk, the pandals were relatively less crowded and there was not much traffic either,” said Prachi a resident of SAIL City. For senior citizens Meena Devi and her husband Ashok Kumar residents of Kokar, going pandal hopping in the rains reminded them of the past. “It was a great experience to visit the pandals in the rains and it reminded us of our hay days when we would get drenched at every possible opportunity. While getting wet we gorged on tangy galgappas and hot masala dosas- totally apt for the weather. On any other day it would have been extremely difficult to spot a parking space, but because of the showers not only was there less traffic on the streets but the pandals were also relatively less crowded,” said the couple. However, Knake Road dweller Geetanjali Gaur who was looking for a break from the showers to go pandal hopping was quite disappointed with the weather. “Reading about the various thematic pandals and attractive installations set up across Ranchi, I was very keen to visit the pandals with my six- year old daughter, but with the incessant rains, we were house bound.
However, when we did go for a drive on Monday evening to show her the lights, it was quite chaotic. We just managed to see the nearby pandals and had to miss the big ones,” she said.