Idol Immersion & Traffic Snarls: Guardianless Silchar

Hindus, who worship their Gods and Goddesses in the form of clay idols, practice idol immersion as an important aspect of their culture. The ceremony marks the farewell of the deities to their abodes and is accompanied by the belief that, after being worshipped, the idols must be immersed in water because only Mother Earth can bear their power and energy. This practice is seen in the worship of almost all Hindu deities like Durga, Ganesha, Saraswati, and others. So far so good. However, the latest trend that could be discerned at Silchar and two other towns of Barak Valley relating to the immersion phenomenon is highly disturbing.

To cite a case, is the recently concluded ‘Manosha Puja’. For around four to five consecutive days, idol immersion took place. The traffic was clogged due to the long queue of procession. Under the influence of alcohol, crude dance competition to the tune of film songs, youth making vulgar gestures and eve-teasing formed a path of celebration. All these happened just beneath the nose of the administration, which was expected to maintain law and order situation.

A delayed start, tardy pace of the main procession meant the immersion activities were inordinately delayed. Traffic remained disrupted all along the procession route. Consequently, the daily commuting traffic got hit with jams reported from different road sections. Delayed immersion chocked city’s roads, immersion extended late into the evening on fifth day also.
“Now-a-days, the youth are more interested in participating in immersion procession than to worship the deity,” lamented Sailesh Bhattacharjee, an octogenarian, when asked about his observation on the culture of idol immersion prevalent in the society. Another retired school teacher, Sunanda Gupta aired her dissatisfaction at the eroding culture exhibited during the idol immersion procession. She observed, “Boys and girls are openly found to consume alcohol on the streets during while participating in such processions.”

Another aspect of this idol immersion procession is the use of high-tech music system. The thing which surprises the most is that the idol of the goddess is of a very small size but the carrier van loaded with multiple sound boxes almost covers the deity. The devotees deserting the van carrying the idol are found to be crowding behind the Van carrying music system. The sound of the high volume music becomes too much to bear for the commuters and the shopkeepers. They seems to be indifferent to the fact that high noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects in humans, a rise in blood pressure, and an increase in stress and vasoconstriction, and an increased incidence of coronary artery disease.

Conscious sections of the populace have aired their resentment on this increasing trend of idol immersion procession continuing for days together. Arun Paul, a teacher by profession is of the view that, “Administration should adopt stern measures in this regard.” He suggested that a particular day should be earmarked for immersion after every puja. Those who fail to immerse the idol on that particular day should have to immerse the idol the following day after 11 PM.” It’s not about encroaching the belief of any religious community, but the basic argument is about leading a civilized existence, wherein everybody is entitled to peaceful existence.