Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Sindoor Khela is a vibrant and traditional Hindu celebration that generally takes place on the last day of Navratri, this year the women bid farewell to Goddess Durga on Sunday morning with teary eyes.
A deeply emotional atmosphere filled the Bengali Club premises this morning as the women of the community first adorned Goddess Durga with vermillion (sindoor) and then applied it to each other before tearfully bidding her farewell.
During the sindoor khela married women apply vermillion to the cheeks of Goddess Durga and forehead with betel leaves first and then to each other, symbolising the bond of matrimony, while also wishing for the wellbeing and longevity of their spouses.
The women celebrate the festival joyously with unity, love and sisterhood. Treasurer of the Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee, Pradeep Bhadra, Apurva Chaudhary and Samik Maity, said that when Goddess Durga arrived on the day of Shashthi, the entire environment was filled with joy and celebration.
However, as we all bid farewell to her, everyone’s eyes welled up with emotion. There is a religious belief that on the first day of Navratri, Goddess Durga comes to her maternal home on earth and stays here for nine days. On the tenth day, she leaves for her in-laws house. This departure is celebrated as Sindoor Khela.
The feeling behind this is that the daughter is leaving her home, may her marriage and happiness continue. After the Sindoor Khela ceremony, the immersion procession for Goddess Durga took place in the afternoon, followed by the distribution of sacred water and sweets in the evening. The 96thSharadotsav of the Bengali club concluded with the Vijay Sammelan.
