Immersion of Durga idol marking end of Durga Puja festival

Durga Visarjan is the farewell of Goddess Durga on Vijayadashami, the final rite of Durga Puja. After the concluding puja, the priest performs the Visarjan mantra, ritually releasing the Goddess from the image — the darpan visarjan, in which her reflection is seen in a mirror placed in water, marks the moment. In Bengal married women then perform Debi Baran, bidding the Mother goodbye as a daughter leaving for her husband's home: they touch her feet, offer paan and sweets to her lips, and wipe her face with vermilion, and then smear sindoor on one another in the joyful Sindoor Khela, praying for the long life of their husbands and families. The idols are carried in procession with dhak and dancing to rivers and ponds for immersion, amid cries of Aasche bochor abar hobe — it will happen again next year. After the visarjan the peace water (shanti jal) is sprinkled on all, and families exchange Bijoya greetings: elders are touched on the feet, peers embrace (kolakuli), and sweets are shared. In North India the barley shoots (jawara) sown at Ghatasthapana are offered and the kalash is ceremonially emptied.

Those who fasted through Navratri break the fast today after Navami has ended.