Patna, Oct. 8: On Saptami (the seventh day of Durga Puja), pandals in the city opened the pat (eyes) of goddess Durga.

At the time of opening the pat, residents prayed in large number amid a drizzle.

Songs dedicated to goddess Durga filled the air and people came out in large numbers to see the pandals.

The Puja committees have put up a great show in terms of security, lights and crowd management.

The Dakbungalow roundabout pandal, replicating the shore temple of Mahabalipuram, witnessed the maximum footfall.

"Durga Puja is my favourite festival. For four days it's absolute fun. Food items and catching up with friends make the Puja the most sought after," said Anuragh Singh, a resident of Gola Road, who had come to see the Dakbungalow Puja.

The district administration has issued licences to 320 Puja committees.

Be it Boring Road, Ashok Rajpath, Station Road, Ashiana Mor, Frazer Road, Raja Bazar, Gardandibagh or Kankerbagh, every stretch boasted of a pandal.

For the next three days, the city would be in the grip of festivity.

District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal today asked the magistrates deputed near the pandals to ensure that the sound of loudspeakers don't cross the permissible limit. He also instructed that loudspeakers should run on low volume at pandals near hospitals.

Agarwal and senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj inspected the Gandhi Maidan, the venue for the Ravan Vadh celebrations. Agarwal instructed the officials to fill up the potholes immediately. He laid emphasis on the lighting arrangements in the ground during and after the effigy burning.

Apart from common people, politicians also visited pandals to seek the blessing of the goddess. Chief minister Nitish Kumar visited the Dakbungalow pandal.

Health minister Tej Pratap and his mother, former chief minister Rabri Devi, performed a havan at 3 Desh Ratna Marg, the official residence allotted to the elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Tej urged people to visit his house to seek blessings of Durga.

The idol will be there till the last day of Navratra. The mother-son duo also performed mata ka jagran.

Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi visited the SK Puri pandal, near AN College, junior Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav visited the Jaleshwar Temple in Kankerbagh, education minister Ashok Choudhary visited Badi Patan Devi temple in Patna City and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav visited the Fatehpur temple in Patna.