Nartiang (Meghalaya), Oct 2 (PTI) Thousands of devotees thronged a 600-year-old temple in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district on Thursday on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, the last day of the Durga Puja festival.

The deity at the Durga temple in Nartiang is worshipped in a distinctly local form.

Blending centuries-old Hindu traditions with Khasi-Jaintia cultural practices, the festival concluded with deep reverence, reaffirming the temple's significance as one of the 51 'Shakti Peethas'.

"What sets the Nartiang Durga Puja special is its rare and seamless integration of tribal customs with classical Hindu ritualism, a tradition that has endured for centuries," said a priest at the shrine.

"This is one of the few places in the country where local tribal customs and mainstream Hindu rituals blend organically," said one of the Deshmukhs, a member of the Deshmukh priestly lineage from Maharashtra, which has been serving the temple for generations.

The form may differ, but the devotion is profound, he said.

Throughout the festivities, chants and drumbeats resonated in the temple compound, amid the devotional spirit of pilgrims, who came not just from the surrounding hills but also from distant areas in the country.

Devotees offered traditional prayers and floral tributes as part of the age-old rituals still preserved at the temple.

"At Nartiang temple, the Goddess is represented by a banana plantain trunk, in keeping with Khasi customs that prohibit the use of sculpted deity images in religious rituals," the priest said.

The makeshift idol, adorned with marigold garlands and symbolic embellishments, stood as a powerful embodiment of the Goddess and of the living syncretic heritage of the region, he said.

The local chieftain, identified as the Dalloi, serves as the chief patron of the temple and plays a central role in the ceremonies, upholding a tradition that binds spiritual observance with the region's indigenous governance systems.

On the final day, the Dalloi and his entourage performed a traditional dance as the plantain trunk was ceremonially removed from the sanctum and immersed in a nearby river, marking the symbolic departure of the Goddess.

Another remarkable aspect of the Nartiang Durga Puja is the chanting of hymns by the Dhulias and village elders, which are not in Pnar, the native language of the region.

"It's a language that no one really understands today, but it is still recited faithfully during the rituals," said Dr HH Mohrmen, a researcher and expert on Khasi-Pnar traditions. PTI JOP BDC

Cultural heritage: Syncretic Durga Puja traditions continue with tribal governance and symbolic plantain deity rites. The Nartiang Durga temple maintains syncretic worship combining Hindu rites with Khasi-Jaintia customs: a banana plantain trunk serves as the non sculptural representation of the Goddess due to local prohibitions on idols; devotees perform traditional prayers, offerings, chants and drum rituals; the Dalloi chieftain functions as chief patron and leads the ceremonial removal and immersion of the plantain trunk; archaic oral hymns in an otherwise unintelligible chant language are recited by ritual performers and elders, reflecting enduring regional liturgical and custodial practices.