The weatherman had predicted light rain with the occasional thundershowers. But what came to a close on Saturday was a sunny Durga Puja. Sometimes a little too humid, but okay.

The revellers were not complaining. Even on Dashami, there was a steady stream of pandal hoppers at the big-ticket puja across the city.

The eateries were also full. Since Sunday is a holiday, the revelry is likely to continue late into the night.

Swapan Debnath, a resident of Maheshtala on the southwestern fringes of Calcutta, was out pandal-hopping with his family members on Saturday.

He took a train to Dhakuria and visited Mudiali, Shibmandir and Lake Youth Club. “We chose Dashami because we wanted to avoid the massive crowds on the days before,” Debnath said outside Lake Youth Club. Chetla Agrani and Suruchi Sangha were remaining on the group’s bucket list.

The Puja bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore had
predicted “partly cloudy sky with light to moderate rain/thundershower is likely in some areas”.

But the Puja days were rain-free in Calcutta. The sky was mostly bright and sunny. The high humidity made the conditions sweaty. But
the revellers were undeterred and came out in hundreds of thousands.

The number of people on the roads again bore testimony to how important the festival is for people in this part of the world, transcending
barriers of beliefs, customs and faith.

Kumartuli Park, Chatabagan Sarbojanin, Hatibagan Sarbojanin and Tala Prattoy in the north and Badamtala Ashar Sangha, Ballygunge Cultural, Samaj Sebi, Chetla Agrani and Suruchi Sangha had a steady stream of visitors on Dashami as well.

The people who sold their wares around these pandals also did brisk business.

“I look forward to these four-five days throughout the year. This year, Durga Puja is a day shorter than usual. But the sales have been good,” said Surajit Gayen, an ice cream seller camping near Mudiali Club’s Durga Puja.

Till 6pm on Saturday, he had sold stuff worth ₹6,000. For the first half of Dashami, it is good,” he added.

A Met official clung to semantics to defend the forecast. “Rain was predicted in some areas. We never said that uniform and widespread rain was likely,” he said.

“Parts of Salt Lake, Belgachhia and EM Bypass near Science City got light showers on Friday,” he said.

The signs of the withdrawal of monsoon are already here, the Met official said.

“The wind pattern is changing. Northwesterly and northerly winds have started replacing southerly, southwesterly and southeasterly winds. The moisture content in the air will gradually go down. Monsoon is expected to retreat from south Bengal in a couple of days,” he added.

The usual date for the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from south Bengal is October 15.

Weather scientists generally treat a change in wind pattern and three to four rain-free days during this time of the year as a prerequisite to announcing the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon. A dip in the moisture content in the air is another marker of the end of the monsoon.

On Saturday, the eateries were busy like any other Puja day. Not surprisingly, biryani had the maximum takers.

“Our outlets near Puja pandals did very well. The outlets at Golpark, Shyambazar and Behala were among them,” said Kabir Azhar, director of Aminia Restaurants.

Metro trains were crowded on Saturday but not teeming with people as they had been for the past few days.

Immersion begins with small pujas

About 250 idols were immersed till 8pm on Saturday in Baja Kadamtala and Judges ghats, two of the largest ghats along the Hooghly where Durga idols are immersed, an official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation said.

The overwhelming majority of idols immersed were from pujas done by households, while few community pujas also completed their immersion.

“About 100 idols have been immersed at Baja Kadamtala Ghat, 150 in Judges Ghat, 50 in Nimtala Ghat and about 40 idols in Ma er Ghat in Bagbazar. Immersion is being done in 16 large ghats along the Hooghly,” said the official.

The immersion started from around 12.30pm on Saturday.

The last day of immersion is Tuesday (October 15), which is also the day of the Carnival when puja organisers March down Red Road with the idols.

Sources said they expected most of idols are likely to be immersed on Sunday.