A Durga puja in Switzerland, which strictly abides by the Bengali almanac, turns three this year.
The puja in Lausanne, a city on Lake Geneva in the French-speaking region of Vaud in southern Switzerland, had to move to a bigger venue this year, anticipating a surge in the number of visitors.
In 2021, the puja was held abiding by the Covid protocol. But still it witnessed over 700 visitors. Last year, the number went up to around 2,000, the organisers said.
This year, the registrations crossed 2,500 at the start of this week. Many of the visitors come from neighbouring cities in Switzerland, including Geneva, Vevey, Bern and Montreaux.
“The venue this year is a place called Le-Mont-sur-Lausanne. It is the grand hall of the commune and can accommodate 500 people at a time. It has a large outdoor area,” said Swayamvara Bose, one of the organisers, who grew up in north Kolkata.
Women are the face of the puja. The executive committee of the puja only has women. Men work in the background.
Following the Bengali almanac means kolabou snan on Saptami morning, Sandhi Puja on Ashtami and Kumari Puja on Navami. The idol that will be worshipped arrived from Kumartuli in 2021. It will be recycled for five years. A priest has flown in from India.
The organisers of many pujas in the West tweak the schedule. If the puja falls on weekdays, the rituals are done during the weekend immediately before or after. But no such deviations for the Durga Puja in Lausanne.
“We apply for leave from work well in advance. This year, the puja coincides with an annual autumn break. We are expecting a bumper footfall,” said Sulata Brousoz, another organiser, a Kolkata girl now married to a Swiss citizen of Indian origin.
The puja is organised by Prangan, a socio-cultural association in Lausanne,
home to the International Olympic Committee headquarters as well as the Olympic Museum.
The puja is a melting pot for the larger Indian diaspora.
“One of the highlights of the cultural programmes is a garba and dandiya performance scheduled on Navami night,” said Isha Ranadive, another organiser, who traces her roots to Baroda and is married to a Bengali.
An opera by a Swiss troupe is scheduled for Ashtami.
The venue will be decked out with patachitras (the traditional cloth-based scroll paintings from Bengal), made by a professional artist.
Food is also a big draw. The spread is vegetarian from Saptami to Navami. It includes polau, kofta, khichudi, beguni, luchi, chholar daal and traditional Indian sweets.
After the idol is boxed — because immersions in water are not allowed — on Dashami, comes a non-vegetarian feast, with mutton curry as the centrepiece.