http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=101324
Dussehra celebrated in Goa NT Staff Reporter Panaji Oct 12: Religious ceremonies in temple towns, worshiping of vehicles, machines and farming tools, and launch of new establishments marked the Dussehra celebrations in Goa today. A colourful immersion processions of idols of the deities � Kalimata, Mahishasura Mardini, Mahalaxmi � were taken out in major towns amidst beating of traditional drums, thus ending the nine-day Navratra celebrations. Though there were rains in Panaji, the festive spirit of the devotees was not dampened as the immersion procession of goddess Kalimata went unhampered from the main streets of Panaji, accompanied with band. Many schools performed Saraswati pujan in their schools and other cultural institutions, where children presented colourful cultural programmes. PTI adds: Huge idols of goddess Durga were immersed in rivers and large effigies of demon kings Ravana, his son, and brother went up in flames marking the victory of good over evil as Dussehra, one of the most popular festivals, was celebrated all over the country. In eastern India, the day began with the dashami puja worship of Durga, with devotees offering flowers and smearing the idol with vermilion, before taking the goddess in a procession for immersion. The police in Kolkata had made elaborate arrangements for immersion of hundreds of idols as a sea of humanity converged on the banks of the Hoogly to bid farewell to Durga, marking the grand finale of the five-day Puja festival. Reports of immersion also came in from the capital and other cities with large Bengali population even as some people have decided to observe the festival tomorrow in view of difference in opinion over the last day of the Puja. In the north, a surcharged atmosphere of festivity pervaded all over as people attired in their best came out in large numbers to see the demon kings going up in flames to the chants of Jai Shree Ram at sunset. In southern India, where the day is celebrated as vidyarambham or initiation into the world of letters, thousands of children between three and five years of age were taken to temples and cultural centres where prominent people like former sprint queen, P T Usha led the ceremonies. After invoking the goddess of learning Saraswati, the kids were helped to write Hari... Sree... in rice-filled platters with the index finger. In some places in Kerala, churches also organised the vidyarambham ceremony as the ritual has over the years assumed a secular dimension. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England