True, over the past 300 years Durga Puja of Kolkata has metamorphosed from the grand “Rajbari (princely)” and “Sarbajanin (community)” affair into an unadulterated corporate festival with pomp and pageantry, fun and fiesta displacing Bhakti as its core element.
And with the big corporates invading the Puja pandals like never before the so-called “Themes” have taken the centre-stage pulling crowds to the tune of lakhs. By a rough estimate of the Kolkata police this year the City of Joy has been witnessing more than 20 million pandal hoppers through the day and throughout the night.
Such is the enthusiasm that the festivities this year started on the Tritiya or the third day instead of Mahasasthi or sixth day.
“Though there was a slight problem in the beginning over how to control the crowd pouring in from all parts of the State and even outside to watch the world’s ‘Tallest Durga’ — 88 feet high — at Deshapriya Park things seem to have normalised after the police took prompt action prohibiting darshan” said a senior IPS officer not discounting the “exquisite art work that could have ranked masterpiece among best such works in the world.” He added, “We feel bad banning it but there is no way because safety comes first and also there is the High Court order banning any idol more than 40-feet high.
Within a few miles of tallest Durga are Kolkata’s other big Pujas like Tridhara Sanmilani which has won the “best pandal” prize this year working extensively on puppets. For artist Gauranga Kuilya puppet of all sizes is the Theme that has been drawing crowds in thousands. “In our Puja there is an even balance of Theme and tradition” says Debashis Kumar, Mayor-in-Council who organises the Puja.
Nearby Ballygunge Cultural Association, Singhi Park and Ekdalia Evergreen Clubs have also excelled in what they call “Sabeki (traditional) Puja.”
A few km away Suruchi Sangha at New Alipur and Chetla Agrani both presided over by two of Bengal’s most powerful Ministers Arup Biswas and Firhad Hakim have been drawing huge crowds. Biswas’ organisation has already won the best Theme Song prize with none other than Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writing the lyrics for it.
Though Durga Puja is associated with Sooraat Raja, a King who first started the Puja on earth hundreds of years ago, its origin dates back to Ramayana. According to Krittivasa’s Ramayana, lord Rama performed the Akaal Bodhan or untimely Puja of the Mother Goddess for the first time in autumn season to seek her blessings and to persuade her to leave Ravana who was under her protection by dint of a boon.
It is said that Rama wanted to please Durga with 108 blue lotuses but while offering the flowers one piece fell short. Not knowing what to do he recalled how his mother Kaushalya compared his eyes with blue lotus and then he rose to gouge it out. The Goddess was pleased and held him back besides granting him his wishes.
In colonial Bengal, Durga Puja was perhaps first organised by the Sobha Bazaar Rajbari (kings of Sovabazaar) in mid 1750s when Raja Nabakrishna Deb was persuaded by lord Clive to perform the Puja. In fact the Governor General of East India Company himself was present during the Puja.
Subsequently, it became a fashion with the other Rajbaris or princely families to organise their own Pujas which then percolated among the public and the Barowari or Sarbojanin (community) pujas came into being. The festivities then travelled outside Bengal to Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Delhi, other parts of the country and even sailed abroad across the seven seas.