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For Bengalis, Durga Puja is THE festival, worth waiting for the whole year. As soon as the new calendar comes out in April, which launches the traditional new year, their eyes inevitably dart to the autumn months to check the puja dates. Today Durga Puja is not just a ritual but a whole lot of images and feelings woven into the very fabric of the Bengali mindset. Even as the artisans at Kumartuli in north Kolkata start mixing the earth to sculpt the deity, preparations start — especially the elaborate pandals constructed according to the theme in baroari (community) puja venues.
For the past few years, the phenomenon of theme-oriented depiction of the image and decoration has gained popularity. It started in the mid 1990s, with a few corporate houses announcing awards for the best puja with emphasis on good taste and traditionalism. This has now become an all-out melee with sponsors jumping into the bandwagon. Many old timers bemoan this craze for awards but others point out that it has also put an end to the vulgarism that sprouted in between, when one could see images made of sundry materials, from match boxes to nails. Besides, it has been a great boost for craftsmen and artisans of rural Bengal as award committees prefer themes reminding of the roots. Now artisans scour even other states for themes for inspiration and novelty. Art college alumni, even art directors of films, are roped in for ideas to make a particular puja and the pandal stand out.
For example, at Chaltabagan Lohapatty puja in central Kolkata this year, artisans are busy painting on glass to decorate the whole pandal. Creativity rules the pandals. So if there was the life-like Rajasthani palace erected last year at the well-known Mudiali Club in south Kolkata, it may be something else this year. The huge image Of Durga at the Maddox Square is a great draw for all. As for the crowds, pandal hopping in their best clothes is a mandatory ritual. Visiting the well-known pandals — to see and compare, the themes, or the intricacy of the workmanship is fine enough, in addas with friends and family members is de rigueur. The city at this time dazzles like a resplendent bride with innovative illumination and the colourful saris and dresses as people pour out on the street. Whole-night puja watching is quite popular. Many ex-pat Bengalis visit home to soak in the puja atmosphere. Tourists, too, come in hordes from other parts of India as well as from abroad to enjoy the colourful festival. There are thousands of pujas held, big and small, in Kolkata every year. The scene around the famous pandals changes overnight to a mela. Food vendors line the lanes, enthusiastic young men in hand-embroidered kurtas or in latest fashionable clothes rustle about busily managing the ‘show’, perhaps inspired by beautiful girls thronging the pandals in their beautiful new saris and salwar suits.
For the young crowd, the four days of puja are equivalent to the Valentine’s Day, with the added bonus that it lasts for four days, instead of just one. The whole year they wait for these four days for it is the time for dating, looking, connecting. You will see them sitting on old newspapers spread on the grass — even on rain-soaked ground. The air is heady with laughter and joy! The best time to enjoy the puja ambience is during the evening aarti. With the 10-armed golden goddess, looking splendid in jewellery and flowers, gleaming under the bright lights, smoke rising from dhunuchi (earthen pot for incense) that the priest rotates, and dhakis (drummers) working up a pulsating beat, the atmosphere takes on an ethereal note. In fact, at the Durgabari puja, a family affair, in old Ballygunge, people congregate just to enjoy the aarti in the evening. Of the thousands of pujas that Kolkatans enjoy every year, the big ones in the Baroari puja pandal section have been here for decades. Like at Bagbazaar, Kumartuli (the artisans’ locality), College Street Square in north Kolkata, Mohammed Ali Park, Park Circus maidan at the seven-point crossing, Khidirpur, etc. But with innovation being the mantra and with an eye on the coveted prize, helped by sponsorship, new venues have been gaining ground with their presentations. For example, in north Kolkata, Ahiritolla puja near the Ganga ghat of the same name, Telengabagan and Karbagan near the Ultadanga station, have been catching eyeballs for their beautiful rendering of themes, whether a Rajasthani village, or pandals made entirely of coloured bangles. Lake Town puja on way to the airport is another huge affair too.
Moving to south Kolkata, the puja by the Shib Mandir near Rabindra Sarobar, have been drawing crowds — and puja award committees for the last couple of years. Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore made news a couple of years ago by making it an "all-women" affair and its reputation is ever on the rise. Their theme usually is on environment preservation. Moving further south, Behala has a few of very well-known pujas. Behala also has the house of the zamindar Sabarna Roy Choudhurys, who, his descendents claim, initiated the city of Kolkata. Their house still continues the traditional way of worshipping Ma Durga. The other must-do’s in the list of south Kolkata are those at Badamtala, Babubagan Club, Jodhpur Park, at the Gariahat junction, Singhi Park and at the Ekdalia Park. Though community pujas with their huge budget and theme-orientations have been hogging the limelight, this does not mean that the pujas held by old families, going back to the zamindari days, have died down. In fact, in homes of many such aristocratic families, the sabeki puja (in traditional style) continues. There is less emphasis on ‘novelty’ at these venues, though they have their own charm. Lately, the government’s tourism department have been organising pandal-parikrama tours in AC buses, during daytime and in the evening. Many foreigners, as well as local enthusiasts, revel in this tour. Tours are organised to north Kolkata to give a taste for old-world charm covering Sovabazaar Rajbari, Bagbazaar, etc. The one in south Kolkata circuit also covers famous venues. An addition has been to posh satellite town Salt Lake. Each block in the town holds a puja and the organisers have become progressively innovative and ‘competitive’. In fact, this year the prominent puja pandal at FD block is hogging the limelight by boasting of the tallest Durga image in the city on the theme of Shakti peeth dedicated to Shakti pilgrimage centres in the East. Needless to say, one has to have the enthusiasm and patience to stand in the serpentine queues for hours in front of the famous puja pandals. But of that Kolkatans have aplenty, at least during the all-important Durga Puja..
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Durga Puja in West Bengal is a much-awaited festival. With elaborate pandals and innovative themes, pandal hopping is a mandatory ritual for natives as well as tourists, writes
Ranjita Biswas
