Dugga Dugga! Never mind long queues, pandal hopping @CR Park is a must!

CR Park buzzes with festive fervour, as pandals, food stalls and long queues capture the spirit, with devotees happy to wait for a glimpse of the festivities.

From glowing lights to food stalls serving festive favourites, Durga Puja has yet again brought Chittaranjan Park (CR Park), Delhi’s mini Bengal, alive with colour and excitement. The crowds, however, have been hard to miss, with Reels from Maha Saptami, second day of the Pujo (Friday) showing queues stretching for kilometres outside pandals. Still, devotees don’t seem to mind the wait. “The closer you get to a pandal, the more the excitement is. You hear the mantras and the dhaak, and don’t even realise how long and tiring the wait was,” says Noida resident Soumya Roy, who visited with his friends.

The many pandals set up all across CR Park makes it an ideal pandal hopping spot in the city. (Photos: Manoj Verma/HT)

A group of friends click selfies in front of the glowing pandal.

The CR Park Kali Mandir Society pandal gives you that deeply spiritual, traditional feel with classic daaker saaj decor. Then you head to spots like Durgotsav, which has a much sleeker, modern aesthetic yet holds that same auspicious charm. -Naveen Singh, Entrepreneur

Visitors relish vegetable chops at the Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samity’s pandal

Along with the food, dance parties adds to the celebrations at the many pandals.

It took us two hours just to reach the pandal! We came from Gurugram, and though we have pandals there too, nothing matches CR Park’s scale and energy. The moment you see Durga Maa’s idol, the fatigue vanishes. We even stayed back to dance the night away at the cultural stage! -Ananya Sharma, Corporate professional