Take a walk at the Arambagh area and get surprised by the Rs 1 crore pandal or meet the goddess at the Nataur's palace, recreated at GK-II. Karan Bhardwaj takes you on a puja tour
Pandalhopping has just got a lot more fun for Delhiites. It is no more the lanes of Chittaranjan Park and Kashmiri Gate inviting one and all to be a part of celebrations. Walk through different locations in the city and NCR, apart from the sound of dhak and smoke from dhunuchi, the magnificent pandals designed as per interesting themes will be awaiting you. So this Durga Puja discover the new, popular destinations.
Take for example celebrations at Panchkuian Road. The Puja Samiti of the Arambagh area has been organising the festival for last 25 years. This year they boast of 45 ft tall pandal worth over Rs 1 crore. A 16 ft tall Buddha idol, a 20 ft Durga idol and a 64 ft Eiffel tower replica, all imported from Kolkata, have also been placed in and around the set. “People in Delhi think that this celebration is an event of get together. They don’t realise the importance of Puja. So, we chose to bring the Kolkata fever here by setting up the huge event. Every year, we celebrate the festival with a theme and the topic of peace was an obvious choice. We got eminent sculptors and artists from Kolkata to design and paint for us,” said Abhijit Bose, President, Arambagh Puja Samiti. The Budha structure, a special attraction, was created by artist Gourang Kulia in Midnapore.
The Puja committee in Durgotsav, Greater Kailash-II is celebrating the origin of this festival. The pandal is designed like a palace of Maharaja of Nataur (Bangladesh).
“The festivities date back to 400 years. At that time, the agriculture was the only source of revenue. So once the crops were harvested, Maharajas would return money to the farmers. People would exchange gifts and get new clothes. Money used to float from rich to poor,” informed Samir Banerjee, general secretary of Durgotsav. Once the British defeated the Maharaja Nataur, they incorporated the European architecture in the palace. So the façade of the pandal is designed with Roman and Greek columns. Banerjee said that the dress of idol in Bengal was changed in mid 1750s. Many dresses, made up of silver foils, were brought from Germany. “So they started calling it Daker saaj,” he said. For the puja, the committee has got craftsmen from Kolkata. Some 50,000 people are expected to turn up each day.
Noida has also become a favourite destination for local residents and those living in nearby areas, especially East Delhi. Saptarshi Sangha in Sector 50 has been organising puja for seven years. This time, they have decided to celebrate the life and spirit of novelist Sarat Chandra.
“He has written a lot about social reforms and women-related issues. So we are paying a tribute to the legendary writer. We have designed our pandal like his home. The facade of pandal is similar to his house in village Beulti (Bengal).
As you enter the pandal, there is a big note on novelist’s life. “Most of the motifs (Alpona) are painted on huge panels made by the female members of the committee. More than 15 members were working round the clock,” he said.
With an investment of Rs 5 lakh, the organisers are expecting a crowd of 6,000 people every day. “One of the main reasons why large number of people are visiting us is that middle class of Delhi has spread out to satellite towns. Younger generation is also very much interested in knowing art and craft. Naturally, the pujas are becoming much more colourful than ever,” Banerjee said.
Rahul Majumdar, a resident of IP Extension shared why he chose Panchkuian Road over CR Park. “Every year we visit Durga Puja in CR Park but I think several other venues have also become bigger and they are worth a visit. I don’t think I should brave the south Delhi traffic during this festive season. It is impossible to get an autorickshaw to reach the area during the festival,” he said.