With grand pandals, magnificent idols, innovative themes, delicious sweets and neon lights, Durga Puja in the Capital is back with a bang. Even as nearly 1,200 pandals across the city are all set to welcome scores of visitors, most of them have an agenda beyond religious segment. Issues like women’s safety, terrorism and inflation have found significant representation in various pujas to signify the plight of city dwellers.
Although the puja began from Thursday, people begin coming out in large numbers only from Saptami, which falls on Friday. Thursday (Shashti) evening was marked by numerous competitions and functions, which will be organised every night till Sunday. “Puja begins from Shashti and is called Bodhon where Durga Ma is welcomed into the home. Not too many people come that day. However, the footfall begins swelling only from Saptami and continues for three days until Navami (Sunday). On Dashami (Monday), Durga Ma is immersed in the river,” explained Swapan Ganguly, member of Kali Bari Durga Puja, one of the oldest in Delhi. Kashmere Gate, Karol Bagh, Kali Bari and Timarpur count amongst the oldest Durga Puja Samitis in Delhi.
Meanwhile, several pujas in Delhi have ensured the depiction of burning issues nagging the common man. Safety of women, in the wake of the gory December 16 gang-rape, has found place in the puja of
D Block, Chittaranjan Park. “A play, titled Dastak, will be performed by the famous Asmita Theatre Group on Friday. Durga Puja is about celebrating womanhood. It is about the strength of a woman. We are trying to link the call for women’s rights with Durga Puja. The message is that you worship her, but do you give her the same place in societyIJ” said Debajyoti Basuroy, a member from the organising committee. Women will again be the theme of a quiz competition scheduled for Saturday, Ashtami, arguably the marquee day of the pujas. “We’re expecting more than 150 teams competing in the event, called Quiz-D. This year, the questions will have an underlying theme on women,” Basuroy added.
The puja at Arambagh intends to spread the message of world peace through its humungous sculpture mof Buddha.
“There is regular news of terrorism. Our borders are unprotected. Our ties with neighbouring countries are worsening. Peace is the need of the hour. Hence we chose Buddha, the harbinger of peace,” said Abhijit Bose, President, Arambagh Puja Samiti
While various Durga Puja committees, numbered at 800 in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), struggle for months in a bid to surpass one another, the Arambagh committee is confident of theirs being the grandest. A massive Buddha sculpture, a 64 feet Eiffel Tower, a 28 feet chandelier, a 20 feet lavender hued Durga pratima and a whopping Rs1 crore expenditure, the puja by this committee at Punchkuian Road is all set to steal the show. “The idol of Ma Durga and even her sari is made of clay. Her jewellery is made of paper. It took four trucks and over seven days to transport the idol from Kolkata. Over 45 labourers helped carry it to the altar. The Buddha sculpture was also transported from Kolkata in two trucks,” Bose informed. Created by Kolkata-based sculptor Guranga Kuila, the 16 feet tall and 12.5 feet wide Buddha idol has been fashioned out of brass replicas from items like mango and bael leaves, diyas, brasswater vessels, all traditional offerings to the Devi.
