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

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