FD Block
Year: 37th
Budget: Rs 30 lakh
Opening: Tritiya, at 6.30pm
A medieval manor house will welcome the goddess. The pandal is complete with twin towers, parapet with battlements and the facade of a gatehouse that is attached to the main structure. Two barbican-like constructions stand at either side, housing a first aid room and an information counter. There are plantations in front, giving an impression of an adjoining garden. The structure spans 110ft, while the towers rise to 35ft.
A few block residents, puja committee sources said, had objected to the puja attracting a crowd amid the pandemic. So the committee reacted by drastically reducing the size of the pandal. “We planned for a 30ft by 20ft structure. This is the superstructure that block residents saw when they came for the three Covid vaccination camps organised by us. Then there was an uproar about the FD Block pandal being so small! So we had to upscale again,” said block president Santanu Biswas.
Still, says puja committee president Banibrata Banerjee, the puja will be smaller in scale. “We have reduced our budget from Rs 42 lakh last year to Rs 30 lakh this time,” he said.
AK Block
Sudeshna Banerjee
Year: 34th
Budget: Rs 15 lakh
Opening: Tritiya, at 7pm
The look: The pandal, 40ft by 40ft, is modeled after the wooden throne that household deities are placed in. So it is open on all three sides, as mandated by the high court. “We had expected restrictions to be imposed this year as well. In any case, we are staying locked down at home for over a year. We are placing the goddess in the open and praying that she gives us the strength to let us come out of this state of containment,” said block secretary Aritra Sen.
The eye-catching presence here is the goddess. A creation of Parimal Pal, she stands 13ft tall in a stylised pose. The texture is wooden with colours inspired by the kind used on woodcraft in Andhra Pradesh.
Take-away packets will be offered on Saptami and Ashtami. “We are giving two packets per family. The quantity will be fit for four members,” said Sen. On Saptami, fried rice, paneer, vegetable chop and sweets will be packed. On Ashtami, it will be khichuri, labra, fry and alu fulkopir torkari.
EC Block
Brinda Sarkar
Year: 45th
Budget: Rs 15lakh
Opening: Chaturthi
The look: The pandal resembles a box with the idol inside. Theme and idol-creator Prabir Saha reasons that since we are all living cooped up for more than a year now, the theme ought to be boxes. There are 450 boxes of five different sizes stuck on the walls and on them are pictures of people wearing masks. “The masks on these faces have been added digitally,” Saha says. “It will also send out a message for visitors to keep their masks on.
By way of cultural programme, the block shall have some agomoni songs during the inauguration, followed by felicitation of students who have cleared the Board exams and the gifting of school bags to needy children who learn computers at their community hall. “Thereafter, the stage will be open to anyone who wants to perform. We shan’t announce these beforehand as we want to avoid crowding,” says secretary Mouli Nath Maji.
Balaka Abasan
Year: 19th
Budget: Rs 15 lakh
Opening: Tritiya
The look: The way Lord Shiva had protected everyone by consuming the poison released during samudramanthan, organisers are praying to Him to once again protect humanity from coronavirus.
So a 20ft tall idol of Shiva towers over a Mt Kailash replica, which is itself 12ft high. Inside is a temple with Devi Durga and the pantheon. The idols are placed before large replicas of bel leaves. The theme (and idol) is by artiste Uttam Mondal.
“Last year, we received massive footfall despite the pandemic. Our queues reached Lohapool, which is some 400m away,” says secretary Prasanna Kumar Roy. “This year, we shall have a sanitising channel for visitors and hand them masks in case they misplace theirs.”
Since New Town has been getting inundated in heavy rain this season, the committee has hired a few pumps and kept them on standby in case they are needed to drain out water.
AE (Part 1)
Brinda Sarkar
Year: 38th
Budget: Rs 10 lakh
Opening: Tritiya
The look: Since visitors will not be allowed into the pandal, the street leading to the idol has been turned into an art gallery depicting the theme, “Nagar darpan”. Despite the pandemic, the city has been awaiting the Pujas and so various stages of the festival have been recreated through art and installations. From a hay kathamo of an idol, to artwork of sindur khela and dhunuchi dance, all have been portrayed. Some items — like the tray of a painted tea seller or the face of a Durga being worshipped — will be sculptured on the wall, giving it a mural-like finish. The trees on the road have been included in the theme and their trunks have been wrapped in colourful cloth strips.
“People are longing for a break and the greatest relief is colour. We have the made the pandal very colourful. Much of the artwork is also abstract or cartoon-like. Children will love it,” says Siddhartha Ghosh, who, along with brother Partha, is the theme-maker.
But all the art work is on one side of the pandal while a mesh of 24ft high mirrors covers the other. “The idea is for visitors to look at their own reflections in the backdrop of the vibrancy. It will lift their spirits,” says Ghosh. The idol too will be artistic.
“One can guess from the crowd at malls and markets that pandal-hopping will be on full swing this year,” says secretary Supriyo Chakraborty.
A few more on watch list
(Clockwise from left) BE (WEST), AE (PART 2), BL BLOCK
AD Block
Year: 43rd
Budget: Rs 8 lakh
Opening: Chaturthi
The look: Folk artistes have been hit hard by the pandemic and so theme maker Sankar Pal has created a pandal to commemorate them and give them a source of income by using artwork created by them. So the pandal has several frames with Madhubani artwork and lots of wooden owls, that are typical of Burdwan’s Natungram. Gamchhas and kulos have been used and bamboos strips have been varnished to bring a dark colour for the exterior of the pandal.
“We shall also have four lit-up gates leading to the pandal,” says committee member Arya Ganguly. “One hardly gets the puja feel without a decorated and lit up pandal.”
The block will distribute saris to the underprivileged on Sashthi but is trying not go overboard with cultural programmes to avoid crowding.
Lunch packets will be sent home on two days. On Saptami, the menu will be Basanti Polau, French fries, Dhokar Dalna, Chhanar Kofta, chutney, rasogolla. On Ashtami, Khichuri/ Luchi, Beguni, Labra, Kashmiri Alur Dom, chutney and sweets will be packed.
AJ Block
Year: 37th
Budget: Rs 7 lakh
Opening: Chaturthi
The look: A grand and spacious thakurdalan, done up in white and gold. The idol is a traditional one by Sanatan Pal. “Last year we had a simple pandal sans a theme but such is the reputation of our puja that we still drew robust footfall. So this time we decided to go for a theme that was beautiful but would still allow social distancing in Covid times,” says media convener Moinak Dutta.
The block will be having online cultural programmes and distributing food packets. The menu on Ashtami is Khichuri, Labra, Alur Dom, Beguni, chutney, sweet. On Navami, it is Basanti Polau, Vegetable Chop, Mixed Vegetable Curry, Dhokar Dalna, Potoler Dorma, chutney and sweet.
BJ Block
Year: 38th
Budget: Rs 20 lakh
Opening: Panchami, 7pm
The look: The pandal is a palatial house, spread across much of the spacious BJ Park to ensure social distancing. The gorgeous idol, by block resident Pradip Rudrapal, is 20ft high.
“Last time, the police had allowed us to let people into the pandal till a distance of 20ft from the idol’s base. We will cordon off the area keeping that distance,” said puja committee joint secretary and block president Uma Shankar Ghosh Dastidar.
A hangar will come up adjacent to the pandal to house food stalls. “We have also applied to the civic body for permission to install play equipment for children,” he added.
Take-away bhog packets, one per family, will have khichuri, pulao and fry or luchi alur dom along with payesh on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami.
Block resident Pradip Rudrapal paints the eyes of the BJ Block idol