The Indian Square in Jersey City, one of the largest hubs of Indian-Americans residing around the area, was glitzy with lights, buntings and banners as the community celebrated the beginning of Navratri, the celebration of nine nights marking the arrival of goddess Durga on earth last week.
The inaugural event Oct. 17 was organized by the Jersey City Merchants’ Association, the organization that had organized it the past. The organizers took pride that the celebrations attracted some 8,000 people, lining up the streets of Newark Avenue, a part of which is called the Indian Square, despite somewhat untimely cold weather.
“Come cold or what our people do not miss an event like this,” Raju Patel, president of the Merchants’ Association, told Desi Talk.
No wonder people danced to the tune of Bollywood music and live performances by local artists almost till midnight. Many non-Indians waited on the sidewalks as well to take a peek at the festivities.
The festival, which started in 2003 with the cooperation of the Govinda Temple on the Newark Avenue, has been a high religio-cultural point to which the Indian-American community looks forward to every year.
This year, Patel said, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, extended full cooperation, to make the festival a success, For example, he said, the paving of the stretch of the road on Newark Avenue was completed ahead of time.
“The Mayor was very cooperative and praised the community for the outdoor celebration of the event,” Patel said.
Although it was in Jersey City, Navratri is being celebrated in neighboring towns of Jersey City as also in New York and across the United States over the next week.
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