Departing from the normal, some of the lakhsmi Puja pandals in Kendrapada town and on its outskirts depicted one theme or the other that have current relevance like Uri attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagada malnutrition death or Dana Majhi. Casting couch controversy has been a crowd puller.
Thousands of puja revellers thronged the mandals to pray before the Goddess. The pandals of Abhaya laxmi Puja Committee at Nasidipur, Khadianga laxmi Puja Committee and Gangabhagirathi Puja Committee of Madhial displayed the photographs of those martyred in Uri to keep alive the memory of their sacrifice, said Sambhu Chand, one of the members of the puja committee of Madhial.
“We decided to change the design of our puja pandal by erecting the images of martyrs of Uri attack to pay homage to our soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation. And, after the surgical strikes (across the loC in Jammu and Kashmir), we felt there is utmost need to show our gratitude to them,” said Bhabagrahi Singh, member of Khadianga Puja Committee.
Similarly, the Bhootanath Puja Committee and Netua laxmi Puja Committee also decorated their puja pandals by taking the burning issues like Nagada’s child death and Dana Majhi taking his dead wife on his shoulders.
“We wanted to show the puja revellers, who are returning from outside the State about the burning issues that hogged the limelight in the State in past months and to make them aware about the issues,” said the puja organisers.
Apart from this, some of the puja organisers also erected earthen idols to campaign against liquor. This year most of the puja pandals constructed big electric light arches.
Similarly, streets and corners of the town and its adjoining villages were beautifully illuminated with light decorations.