Durga Puja West Bengal Kolkata Durgapur

From outside Kolkata
Durga Puja. These two words remind us that this great festival is just a few days away. It is the greatest festival for the people of West Bengal. Durgapur, once a small town, has developed a lot and grown quite big. Every half-kilometre one can see the preparations for Durga Puja. Among the oldest in Durgapur the puja in Birbhanpur village has been celebrated for 150 years. The puja organized in Adibedi is rather significant. It is being constructed in an eco-friendly manner. No chemicals or toxic paints have been used to make the idols. The idol has been made of hay and it retains its original colour as no paints have been used. The artisans are concentrating specifically on this puja. In the Steel Township are innumerable small and big pujas. The puja at Marconi (since 48 years) is the biggest of them all and worth a look. This year the pandal depicts scenes from Nalanda University. This is the most popular puja in Durgapur and has won many awards in the past few years. In the City Centre the popular ones are in Cement Park and Chaturanga. The pandal at the latter (celebrated since 50 years) is modelled on the Iskcon temple in Mayapur. In the Benachity area the two important pujas are in Nabarun and Agrani. In Nabarun, the main attraction of the puja is the fair or mela. In Agrani the pandal depicts a village scene. Some of the popular pujas in the Bidhannagar area are in Sector-2C and Santose Club (since 20 years). In Sector-2C the pandal resembles Sri Ravi Shankar’s (of Art of Living) Vishalaxmi temple (meditation hall) named after his mother in Bangalore. Around 2000 people have community lunch on the puja days. The pandal of the famous puja in MAMC Fuljhore is made of masks used by folk (chhau) dancers while dancing. Even the idols’ faces resemble the masked faces of the dancers. There are numerous other small pujas organized by enthusiastic locals. Most of these pujas conduct competitions especially for children. In the cultural programmes local children and artists as well as artists from outside perform and entertain people. Community lunch is a common affair in most of the pujas. It is quite interesting to note that not only men but also women play a key role in organizing these pujas. Even children play an active role in these pujas and act as volunteers. Some of the puja committees donate a greater part of the subscriptions (chanda) money to orphanages and other needy people. This is indeed noble work on their part and is much appreciated.

Aishanee Sinha, Coordinator,
Class VIII, Carmel School, Durgapur
source: the statesman