Assam Rings in New Year with New Hope

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, devotees thronged to the temples on the first day of the New Year seeking blessings from God so that the year passes peacefully. Large queues have been witnessed outside the temples in Guwahati and other parts of the state. As the year 2020 passed with much hassle and bustle, the devotees wished a blessed year ahead in 2021.

People also celebrated the last day of 2020 with much enthusiasm and fervour by following the COVID-19 protocols issued by the government and also celebrated the first day of the New Year with much glory.

"I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and wished that the year passes off peacefully. We have gone through a very bad year on 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic has hit not only the state but the entire nation and world. Everyone suffered from losing their job to economic crisis and therefore I wish that this year we get a new ray of hope and to start off the New Year there is nothing more than seeking blessing from the almighty," said one of the devotees who visited Ganesh Mandir at Latasil to offer prayers.

Other than visiting temples, a section of people also went for picnic, visited different tourists places to spend the first day of the New Year with fun and happiness.

The Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden also reopened for tourists with proper COVID-19 guidelines issued by the authorities. The zoo authorities have also capped the number of visitors at 1000 per day. The visitors will also have to pay through online mode only in order to prevent contact from person to person.

Moreover, the picnic spots like Hatisila, Chandrapur, Chandubi etc also witnessed large numbers of tourists from across the state.

The Chandubi festival also began from today. The 11^th edition of the festival attracted tourists from near and far places.

The main attractions of the Chandubi festival are mostly the local folk culture, ethnic cuisine, local handloom and dresses, boating, etc. A major attraction of Assam Tourism, Chandubi Lake was created during a massive earthquake in the year 1897. This freshwater lake was turned to an economically viable water body that would sustain different communities living around the lake. The major aim of the Chandubi Festival is to promote eco-tourism in this biodiversity hotspot of Assam.

The four-day-long festival will witness a display of variety of traditions and ethnic culture. Food courts of different ethnic cuisines will also be put up.

Notably, the state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the government is likely to declare the state as Corona free as the cases are declining day by day which is indeed good news for the people. The minister even said that the cases of COVID will not even be twitted from the New Year. The people of Assam will lead a new life with a new ray of hope from the first day of the New Year, said the minister.