On October 17, the 80-year-old famous Durga Puja of north Calcutta, Chaltabagan Puja, kickstarted this year’s celebration with an evening filled with music and dance at ITC Royal Bengal. The event called Durga O Prakriti was curated by Sundeep Bhutoria, chairman of the Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja Committee. The pre-Puja evening witnessed some traditional and sublime performances by Arindam Sil, Mimi Chakraborty, Sundeep Bhutoria, Bickram Ghosh and Arnab Bandopadhyay, moderated by Tnusree C. Glimpses of the celebrations.
Filmmaker Arindam Sil (extreme left) and chairman of Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja Committee Sundeep Bhutoria recited devotional poems in Bengali and Hindi. “Firstly, I’d like to thank Sundeep Bhutoria for giving me this opportunity to pull up a programme like this. I never expected the kind of energy all the performers had today. Our adrenaline is just set for the upcoming Puja days and I wish everyone a happy Durga Puja,” said Arindam Sil. “With Durga O Prakriti every year we try to celebrate the cultural value of Durga Puja which is an integral part of Bengal. Each year we create this event which links the music, art and culture of Bengal and shows a glimpse of the traditions,” said Sundeep Bhutoria.
(Top left) Classical dancer Arnab Bandyopadhyay was also in the line of performers. He gave a soulful performance with his team as they presented the dance of Nataraj in the song Rudra Shiva Stotram.
(Bottom left) Tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh mesmerised the audience as he performed three pieces of music — Dance of Shiva, Gangotri and a medley. “Chaltabagan does very special events every year and I have participated in several. This year was more special because my dear friend Arindam and Sundeep Bhutoria crafted a thought and requested me to join and create music. I enjoyed performing live with my team here today,” said Bickram.
Durga Puja is incomplete without the sound of dhaak! From the audience, Alexey Idamkin, consul general of Russia, and designer Abhishek Dutta tried their hands at the dhaak.
Moderating the event, Tnusree C looked beautiful as she donned a black and golden sari.