Navratri begins today, Dussehra on Oct 3

BHOPAL: Navratri and Durga Puja festival will begin in the city from Thursday. This year, the nine-day long festival would be of eight days since Ashtami and Navami would overlap on October 2. Dussehra would be celebrated on October 3.
Meanwhile, around 800 tableaux and pandals have been erected in the city to celebrate the festival. Devi temples are being especially decorated for the occasion.
South Indian temples would be a dominant theme among the big tableaux. Among the prominent ones include Bittan Market which would showcase the Radha-Krishna Temple of Bangalore, Mysore Palace in Barkhedi and Vishalakshi Mandap of Bangalore in New Market.
According to pandits, Goddess Durga this year, will arrive on boat, which is a symbol of rain and agricultural improvement and will go back in a cradle or palanquin, a symbol of destruction and floods.