After two years of restricted movement owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, revellers on Saturday took to pandal hopping in the city with vigour on Sasthi, the first day of the Durga Puja festival.

Long queues of pandal hoppers, from children to the aged, in new clothes, were seen at the more popular Durga Puja marquees across the city.

A forecast of rain from Sunday also made people tweak their celebration plans over the five days with revellers trying to make the most of the sunny, though hot and humid Saturday.

They braved a spell of heavy rain in the evening to go on a pandal trail across the city.

On Sasthi, the first day of the five-day festival, priests invoke Goddess Durga and her celestial family, comprising Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik, to abide on earth and help the triumph of good over evil.

Restaurants to roadside eateries were choc a bloc with people queuing up at many of these.

With choices enough to spoil even the most frugal eater, the gastronomic paradise during the puja festival offers a mind-blowing range of cuisines from authentic Bengali to Awadhi, from Mexican to Chinese or south Indian and Punjabi specialities.

The Calcutta Police has made extensive bandobast to ensure peaceful celebration of the festival, apart from the herculean task of keeping roads free of congestion.

Around 17,000 personnel, including 10,000 home guards, have been put on the roster for law and order and traffic duties in Calcutta, a senior police officer said.

Several big-ticket community pujas, including Mudiali Club, Ekdalia Evergreen, Suruchi Sangha, Badamtala Ashar Sangha in south Calcutta, Bagbazar, Simla Byayam Samity, Ahiritola Sarbojanin, Tala Pratyay in north Calcutta, Sreebhumi, Dum Dum Park and FD Block on the northern outskirts and Salt Lake are some of the biggest draws this year in crowd count.

The weather office has forecast moderate rainfall at most places over the districts of south Bengal with downpour at one or two places in South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts till October 6 morning and light to moderate rain over these places thereafter till October 7 morning.

For Calcutta, the Met department has forecast a "generally cloudy sky" with a few spells of moderate rainfall from October 2 to 4 morning and light to moderate precipitation thereafter till October 6 morning.

It has also forecast light to moderate rainfall in the districts of north Bengal from October 3 to 6 morning.