Colourful parade to celebrate Hindu festival of Durga Puja Festival

A colourful parade was held at Peterborough’s Ferry Meadows Park to celebrate a Hindu festival.

The park hosted an immersion procession at the end of the Durga Puja ceremony as part of the very first community Durga Puja and Dussera Festival for Peterborough.

The Dussera festival is a major Hindu festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil and the victory of Lord Rama over the 10-headed demon-king Ravana. The Durga Puja Festival marks the triumph of the Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura and celebrates the strength of Durga.

The Bengali Sanskriti Club Peterborough (BSCP) opened the celebrations with an inaugural ‘lighting of the lamp’ ceremony and cultural programme at the Millennium Centre. The Festival celebrations then continue throughout the weekend culminating in an immersion ceremony of the goddess Durga at Ferry Meadows on Sunday.

Anamika Ghosh, Founder of BSCP and Community Engagement Coordinator said: “Durga Puja is an emotion, it’s a nostalgia that weaves diverse memories for all of us. It encompasses all communities to come together and celebrate the Mother Goddess with the firm belief that the Goddess will destroy darkness. But what transcends even years of history and tradition is how this festival lives in the limits of imagination, beauty, camaraderie and a spectacular display of craftsmanship and artistry. It is a time when people from all walks of life leave their boundaries behind and celebrate together. What pervades the air is a boundless spirit of inclusion, festivity and revelry. The essence of Durga Puja lives on like a song and on this auspicious occasion, I am wishing you all happiness and prosperity.”