As devotees’ chanted ‘Asche bochor abar hobe’ (It will happen again next year) with Maa Durga’s idol, everybody wished each other “Shubho Bijoya”. The national Capital was gripped in festive colours on Thursday as the devotees thronged the pandals to pay tribute to maa durga on maha dashmi. A slice of Bengal was conspicuous at Chittaranjan Park as mystical dhak, dhol and ritual sindoor khela added colour to the sanctimonious afternoon of pujo.
Dhol, dhunuchi naach with the holy smoke and dhakis were heartbeat B-Block Durga Puja pandal as they celebrated 37 long years of pujo. Drumming up the true spirit of pujo, Durga’s benevolent motherly gaze was the cynosure of the faithful who stood transfixed staring at the devi protima moist-eyed on Mahashtami. Few metres away, the very popular Mela Ground Durga Puja at Chittaranjan Park too was soaked in the fever of Dununchi nritya. “This is the best time of the year. Maa Durga shower her blessings on us these five days and on the last day she bids farewell with a promise to return next year. The Dhununchi nritya is something we all look forward to,” said Bilpab Chakraborty, a resident of Kalkaji.
Clad in their best outfits, women on Dashami observe ‘Sindoor khela’ marking each other’s faces with the vermilion powder in a tradition to wish one another a long married life. CR Park’s Kalibari-one of the most colour-rich Durga Puja pandal was the cynosure of all eyes as devotees turned out in large number to seek blessings from maa durga. Amid stringent security arrangement, the afternoon outside the streets outside Durga Puja Samity K Block Co-operative Ground as routes was diverted at CR Park to avoid heavy traffic flow.
Following National Green Tribunal’s order which prohibited immersion of idols made of non-biodegradable materials as they pollute Yamuna River, the Durga Puja festivities in CR Park are kept eco-friendly and artisans from Bengal decorated the mela ground using eco-friendly techniques made with sholapit, which is peculiar to West Bengal. An essential part of the Bengali culture, sholapit is made of a plant that grows in marshland. It is a spongy plant that can be shaped into beautiful objects of art.
General Secretary of Mela Ground Samiti, Shekhar Guha stated, “We wanted to go for an eco-friendly idol and our artisans have used clay and sholapit. No chemicals or artificial products have been used this year.” He further added that the use of sholapit will address the issues of environment protection. “Products made from this plant easily dissolve in water. Sholapit is also used to decorate the 18 feet tall Ma Durga idol,” said Guha.
According to Guha, the idol makers were happy with the idea of “pollution-free puja”. With a team of 100 people involved in the pujo preparations we hope this pujo is successful and works under the guidelines for cleanliness, he added. The Mela Ground pujo at Chittaranjan Park is one of the oldest and it is celebrating the 40th edition with the theme ‘Ancient Pujo’.
Though across the globe, the universal Mother is worshiped as the epitome of shakti, the Bengalis uniquely place her in their hearts as a member of their family. They welcome the Goddess as their daughter who comes on an annual visit to her parents’ place for a five-day long visit with her children Ganesha, Karthik, Saraswati and lakshmi.