A Commuter passes by a Durga Puja pandal decorated with photographs of the deceased singer Zubeen Garg, in Guwahati, Assam, on Monday, September 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Most Durga Puja committees across Assam cancelled traditional cultural programmes and cut down on grandeur in keeping with the general mood in the State following the death of singer-composer Zubeen Garg.
Assam has largely been in mourning since Garg died by “drowning” in Singapore on September 19.
Large garlanded portraits or cut-outs of Garg were placed at the puja pandals for fans to offer their tributes to the State’s cultural icon.
“We have stuck to the rituals and avoided playing music except for the songs, specifically the devotional ones, sung by Zubeenda. Most of us cannot get over the fact that he is no more,” Sajal Pal, associated with a puja committee in Guwahati’s Lal Ganesh area, said.
In oil town Digboi, about 500 km east of Guwahati, the puja organised by the 1942-established Nepali Bishnu Mandir has been shorn of the gloss associated with the autumnal festival.
“Garg’s untimely demise has cast a shadow over the festivities this time. The Ashtami Phulpati (Monday) procession had a solemn touch,” Narayan Jaishy, the president of the Nepali Bishnu Mandir Durga Puja Samity, said.
The puja committees have also refrained from bursting crackers to ensure a quiet puja.
Published – October 01, 2025 04:40 am IST
