People soak in 'Mahashtami' spirit, throng streets of Kolkata

Revellers thronged the streets of Kolkata amid scattered rain on 'Mahashtami' -- considered the most auspicious of the four-day Durga Puja festival -- to witness the array of marquees featuring innovative art work and illumination.

People were seen standing in long queues outside the prominent puja pandals on Sunday, even during heavy rain in the evening hours in the northern and southern parts of the metropolis.

'Mahashtami' was ushered in with 'pushpanjali', the offering of flowers to the Goddess.

At Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in Howrah district, the traditional 'Kumari Puja' -- a custom of paying obeisance to a little girl dressed as Goddess Durga -- was held by monks in the morning in presence of thousands of devotees.

Deviating from popular practice, a couple in the city's Baguihuti area worshipped a four-year-old Muslim girl during 'Kumari Puja'.

"Do we know which caste Maa Durga belongs to? She has no caste, religion or ...