And the time has come when Maa Durga along with her four kids is getting ready to bid adieu for a year. Vijaya Dashami the last day of the Durga Puja festival. On this day the ritual of ‘Sindoor Khela’ begins after the Visarjan Puja. As part of the ritual, Bengali ladies, generally dressed in white saris with red borders perform Devi Baran, bidding farewell to the Goddess. One after another, they perform an arati and apply sindoor on the forehead and feet of the deity. After the Devi Baran is done, they apply sindoor on each other’s forehead. They are also supposed to apply Sindoor on the feet of the older women among them. Finally, they playfully and carefully smear sindoor on each other faces. According to a theory, the tradition of ‘Sindoor Khela’ originated around 200 years ago in the Durga Pujas of the zamindar houses to usher bonhomie among the housewives. However, as per another theory, this tradition is as old as Durga Puja itself, around 400 years. Moving forward then begins the procession for the immersion of the Goddess in the Ganges or in any nearby water body. With a heavy heart, people bids farewell to Maa wishing good health and positivity for everyone. Once the immersion rituals are over people distribute sweets to each other and wish Subho Bijoya, youngers take the blessings from their elders, friends, and folks hug each other and with this, another year of longing for the festival begins. But covid19 pandemic changes all the ritual this year. Sindur Khela also has been restricted.
