In a few days from now, the Keyes High School, Secunderabad, will attract visitors for Durga puja festivities, coupled with music and food offered as bhog . The number of visitors has risen to 15,000 to 20,000 per day from a modest 5,000 to 10,000 a few years ago. The festive spirit will be similar at venues across the city where celebrations are organised by Bengali organisations.
These celebrations have an enthusiastic participation from non-Bengali communities as well. The Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha (BSS), organising its festivities for the 49th year, caters to visitors at Keyes High School. “In the initial years, our venue was adjacent to the fire station at Paradise. As the number of visitors increased, we had to move to a larger venue,” says Atin Choudhury of the association. He says CCTV cameras are being put in place to ensure security and at least 40 to 45 stalls will offer food catering to different taste buds. “We have marwaris, Jains in particular, who partake in the festivities and sponsor rice, dal or spices for bhog ,” he adds.
The planning begins months in advance for the festivities hosted by Hyderabad Bangalee Samity (HBS) near Ramakrishna Math, Lower Tank Bund. “We have meetings end of May and early June to finalise the different committees in-charge of puja, bhog and pandal,” says secretary Sumit Sen. The idol is commissioned from artisans in Kumartuli, West Bengal, and transported to Hyderabad a fortnight ahead of the festival. “The final touches are given here,” adds Sen.
The Cyberabad Bangali Association (CBA) and Utsab Cultural Association are recent entrants. The CBA is in its seventh year, formed to establish a connecting link between Kolkata and Hyderabad for the IT and Pharma employees in the vicinity of Cyberabad. “Many of us cannot take leave and go home to Kolkata. This association has nearly 500 families as members,” says Subhro Mukherjee, general secretary of CBA. Their pandal will come up at JPN Nagar Community Hall, Miyapur. “If we have to attend festivities organised by established associations in other parts of the city, we’d have to travel across the town. For those of us who have elderly parents who like to visit the pandal morning and evening, the distance becomes an issue,” says Mukherjee. Artisans from Kumartuli design the idol for CBA with clay from the banks of Ganges.
Most Bengali associations in the city vouch by clay idols. The workshops in Charminar and Dhoolpet areas have artisans from Bengal visiting and staying in the city for a few weeks to complete these idols.
Puja celebrations are incomplete without cultural performances. Both CBA and BSS will host sessions of Baul music this year.
“We are also tying up with an organisation that helps weavers and artisans,” adds Subhro. The HBS will have a conch-blowing contest apart from music, drama and dance.
Elsewhere, the Kalibari temple at Sainikpuri, established in 1974, conducts festivities in its premises. At Kanchanbagh, Krishti Gosthi association organises festivities attended by families at DRDO and BDL among others. Since its first puja in 1985, the participation has grown but as T.K Nandi, general secretary, points out, “We don’t intend to scale up the celebrations because it would be tough for crowd management.”
Is bigger better?
Bengali associations agree that as the celebration gets bigger, the onus is on the organisers to ensure they don’t add to chaos — both at the venues of puja and bhog. The work is divided between groups and volunteers pitch in.
In recent years, lakes in the city have seen more number of Durga idols being immersed, both from Bengali associations and other communities that install idols for Navratri. “Idols commissioned by Bengalis associations, keeping with tradition in Kolkata, are made of clay and eco-friendly colours. Typically, a Bengali Durga puja pandal will have Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Karthik in one frame, unlike the Durga and lion idols by others,” says Sumit Sen.
T.K. Nandi agrees that Navratri and Durga puja celebrations are gaining momentum like Ganesh chathurti celebrations and urges the importance of keeping a steady pace of celebrations. Shankar Dasgupta of Kalibari trust feels it’s tough to stop people from doing what they set to do but associations can keep tabs on the height of the idols and use recyclable materials. “Using Plaster of Paris will only add to the already polluted waters of our lakes,” he adds.
