Dashami, the tenth and final day of Durga Puja, carries a bittersweet charm. After days of music, colors, and prayer, devotees prepare to bid farewell to the goddess. The ritual of immersion, or visarjan, is not only a religious practice but also an artistic and emotional experience that embodies both devotion and impermanence.
The highlight of Dashami is the Sindoor Khela. Married women gather at the pandals, offering vermilion to the goddess and then smearing it on one another. The red sindoor symbolizes strength, fertility, and blessings. The ritual, colorful and joyous, has also become a subject of art and photography, capturing women in bright red drapes with vermilion-streaked faces, embodying feminine energy.
Following this, the idol is taken out in a grand procession. Decorated trucks or carts carry the goddess, while dhakis play the drums, and devotees dance in joy mixed with sorrow. The immersion itself, when the idol is lowered into the river, reflects the cycle of creation and dissolution in Hindu philosophy. The beautifully crafted idols, which had been the centerpiece of devotion for days, dissolve into water, reminding us of life’s impermanence.
For artisans, Dashami is both pride and pain. The idols they spent months creating vanish within hours. Yet, this cycle gives them the chance to begin anew, ensuring that their craft remains eternal through repetition.
Dashami visarjan is therefore not only about farewell. It is an artistic journey—where color, sound, and ritual merge into one of the most powerful spectacles of Indian culture.