Pictures: Hundreds gather at Durga Puja Cork

Over 700 people attended Durga Puja, an important annual festival for the Indian Community, in Mahon Community Centre on Sunday October 22.

Durga Puja is mostly celebrated in the Bengal region, and lasts for nine days, but the Cork variation packed all the festivities into one day and was open to people from all over India.

Worship is at the centre of the event, and the community centre had a stage at the top of the room set with ornate idols, the largest being the goddess Durga, as well as smaller idols of her children.

Priests knelt in front of the idols chanting mantras while devotees took off their shoes and gathered around the stage.

Afterwards, the stage was used for performances ranging from traditional Indian singing, group dances and music from Bollywood movies.

This included two traditional songs by father and son Baburaj, who sang first, and 13 year old Akshay, who has been practicing his singing for five years.

The room was awash with colour, with Auindrila Das, one of the organisers of the event who has been living in Ireland for the past ten years, telling The Echo that this is one of the most important events on their calendar so “everyone wears their most colourful dresses.” 

Mayor of Cork city Kieran McCarthy was in attendance at the event, and gave a speech to the attendees, saying: “In this world that we live in today, togetherness matters more than ever”.

He pointed out that on the Cork Mayor chain he wore there was a Latin inscription which translates as “a safe harbour”.

Organiser Rohini Roy, who has been in Ireland since 2017 and a part of Durga Puja Cork since its early years pointed out that the logo for their festival depicts the Goddess Durga in between the two lighthouses of Cork.

Also in attendance were Cllr Audrey Buckley, on behalf of the Mayor of Cork County Council, and Cllr Jack White, who told The Echo: “It is just such an honour to be asked to be a part of it”.