AGARTALA, Oct 8 (TIWN): The religious rituals of Maha Saptami (seventh day on the lunar calendar) began with the bathing of a banana plant in ponds.

The plant is treated like a bride, wrapped in a new sari and placed next to the idol of Lord Ganesh, son of Goddess Durga. This plant is called Kalabau' (banana plant bride) - considered the wife of Ganesha.

The ritual is called 'Nabapatrika snan-o-sthapan' and many believe this practise is traced to the agrarian society of east India.

The Nabapatrika (new leaves) consists of nine banana leaves. After the ritual, special worship for Saptami started and devotees on an empty stomach thronged pandals to pray to Durga and offered her 'pushpanjali' (floral offerings to the goddess).

According to Hindu mythology, the festivities and prayers begin with the symbolic arrival of the goddess on earth on the sixth day of the first quarter of the moon and ends on Dashami or the 10th day, which is celebrated across the country as Dussehra.