Pranab Mukherjee celebrates "Durga Puja" with fervour
6 Oct 2008, 2113 Hrs

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Birbhum (West Bengal), Oct 6 External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is celebrating "Durga Puja" at his ancestral home in Birbhum District of West Bengal.

The Mukherjee family has been organizing the puja for the past 114 years at their ancestral home, where villagers come in large numbers during the five-days of festivities and rituals.

Mukherjee said that this is the only time he meets his childhood friends and extended family.

The Foreign Minister said, "My family members, at times my grandfather, my uncles, my father's uncles, my cousins and their sons - we all celebrate the festival together."

The Durga Puja is one of the most vibrant festivals celebrated in India.

Durga, the most powerful of all Hindu gods and goddesses, is portrayed as the goddess with prowess to kill the evil.

Legend has it that demons from the other world invaded heavens after a hundred years of war. The Hindu trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu then created Durga, the most powerful of all gods and goddesses to vanquish the demons. (ANI)