Gopalpur Sarbojanin Durgotsab
Gopalpur Sarbojanin Durgotsab celebrated the oldest puja around, offering a slice of Thailand. Ronger haat Rajarhat – ek tukdo Thailand” was their theme. “Our budget was Rs 50 lakh this year and we got big-shot theme-maker Gauranga Kuila to create our pandal,” said puja vice president Soumitra Chakrabarty. The idol was by Naba Kumar Das.
The pandal was spread over the playground of Jagrata Yuba Goshti, a few minutes’ drive from City Centre 2. There was a 40ft dome with statues of Buddha, dragons, masks and other motifs of Thailand. “This was the first time we went for such an ambitious theme and response was over-whelming,” said Chakrabarty.
New Town CD Block
If you thought New Town CD Block’s pandal looked bejeweled this year, it was by design. In its fifth year, the puja presented the theme — Bongo nari, Bongo mati — and the pandal was done up like a woman would adorn herself. During the day the pandal looked red and orange, like vermillion, and at night the lighting made it look golden, like jewellery. To express the earthy connection, bamboo sticks were painted yellow and red symbolising mustard fields and Krishnachura flowers.
CD Block, New Town
“Our puja is only five years old but word of mouth about it spread and we drew good footfall, even as late as 11pm,” said joint secretary of the puja Kallol Bhaumik. “The committee was deeply involved with the pandal and idol, discussing the look with the decorators that we had got from Midnapore.”
New Town Action Area 1D
The pandal at New Town’s DC Park was based on Jamini Roy’s paintings. This was New Town Action Area 1D’s puja, involving residents of DC, DE and DF blocks. Not only were replicas of Roy’s paintings put up on the pandal but some sculptures, based on his paintings were placed in a boat in front of the pandal too. “At night, the lighting made the pandal appear like the deck of a ship,” said an executive committee member of the puja, Shouvik Banerjee. “The Jamini Roy-inspired pandal was the idea of another member Indrajit Patra, and our pandal drew visitors right from Panchami, when we inaugurated it.”
Action Area 1D, New Town
Silver Oak Estate
To celebrate the final day of the pujas, residents of Silver Oak Estate took out new clothes that they had bought together. Some 70 women wore white-and-red saris and 70 men wore green panjabis that were tailor-made for them.
In their finery they danced on the alpana painted by themselves. “One of our residents, Sanjay Das, did the layout and stencils the design that about 100 other residents of all ages coloured,” said puja president Amit Mukhopadhyay. The alpana had a radius of about 10ft.
The residents gathered at about 2pm for sindur khela and continued the revelery till about 7pm, after which they headed out to the immersion ghat. “But bidding adieu to the goddess is such an emotional ritual that several residents — men, women and kids — had tears in their eyes,” said Mukhopadhyay.