On Wednesday, the Bengali community in Hyderabad and Secunderabad brought the Durga Puja season to a close with Sindoor Khela, filling several neighbourhoods across the twin cities with festival cheer and shared memories.
Hyderabad and Secunderabad had hosted major pandals in many locations through the festival days. On 21 October, those prominent venues shifted to the closing rite as families arrived in large numbers for the final day of public worship.
Married women in traditional red-and-white dress gathered at major pandals in both cities. They smeared vermilion on one another, shared sweets, and offered sindoor and sweets to Goddess Durga at the pandals.
The Sindoor Khela rite expresses wishes for marital happiness and prosperity. It also serves as a farewell to the goddess before the final idol immersion that ends the festival.
Bengali community associations ran programmes at well-known hubs and drew very large crowds. The gatherings included traditional rituals, dhak drumming, and Bijoya greetings passed among those present. Most participants were women and children.
Dhak beats sounded at several association-led meetings while women moved through the vermilion exchange in groups. The same pattern of sweets and sindoor sharing ran through the afternoon at multiple sites in both cities.
At NTR Stadium, the Hyderabad Bangalee Samity hosted its usual large-scale gathering. The samity brought together thousands of devotees in one venue for the closing ritual.
Similar scenes unfolded elsewhere in the twin cities. The Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha organised lively celebrations at Keyes High School in Secunderabad. Community events also took place near VNR Gardens in the ECIL–A S Rao Nagar stretch.
At Hyderabad Kalibari in Sainikpuri, the community held traditional rites as well, and married women there joined the sindoor exchange along with other attendees. The immersion of the idols follows this farewell day in the usual Durga Puja calendar.
