From the imposing Red Fort to the magical world of Harry Potter and the battlefields of Kargil - the theme-based pandals of the various 'Sarbajanin', or community Durga Puja associations, transform Kolkata into a spectacle of light and colour, albeit with an underlying message to educate and inform the masses.
Preparations for the autumn festival begin as early as January. The clubs appoint professional artists to work on the concepts. The myriad themes are based on religious places, tourist spots, historical monuments, socio-economic issues and important political events. Pradip Ghosh, leader of the Congress party and president of the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja in North Kolkata, says, "We started the theme puja in 1993 with the centenary celebration of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech." The club, one of the pioneers of theme pujas in Kolkata, had constructed the replica of the World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago. "We wanted to remind the people of Swamiji's words," he informs.
Ghosh's puja became the talk of town in 2009 when Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja pandal depicted the suspension of work at the Tata Nano plant in Singur. "We even pre-empted the fall of the Left bastion in 2010, a year before the actual Vidhan Sabha results came in," he grins. The depiction of the downfall of the Left Front regime was inspired by the refrain 'Dori dhore maro taan Hirak raja hobe khan khan' (now grab and pull that rope, and the king will shatter into pieces) in Satyajit Ray's film Hirak Rajar Deshe. The pandal was constructed as the replica of the Writers' Building, with a dhoti-kurta-clad statue at the centre. It was shown to resemble then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, wearing a crown reminiscent of the despotic Hirak Raja, which was being pulled down by the common people. However, the club is not courting controversy this year with a serene replica of Vatican City.
Move a little further and you will see that the pandal of FD Block's puja in Salt Lake is based on the heinous Delhi rape case. The anti-rape theme, designed at a budget of Rs 55 lakh, is depicted through images of women empowerment - women rise up against atrocities meted out to them by demons in the guise of men. "We intend to empower today's women just like the ten gods armed Goddess Durga with different weapons to fight the buffalo-demon, Mahishasura," says Pradip Sengputa, president, FD block puja.
Tapati Guha-Thakurta, professor of history at Kolkata's Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, has extensively researched the evolution of the festival. She says: "Emergence of this new wave of art production, with professional artists and designers being hired on a contract, defines the modern Durga Puja. Not to mention, the footfalls in these pandals exceed several thousand on each of the five puja days."
At least 50-60 per cent of the funds come from corporates. For instance, a large puja like the Santosh Mitra Square gets as much as 80 per cent of the money from corporations. "Very little of our requirement comes through chanda or donations from the para [locality]," says Ghosh. The sudden rise in the puja budget in the last few years was also due to the mushrooming of chit fund companies across the state. What were low-key pujas earlier, could now compete with the bigger ones as a result of this. However, the FD Block puja organisers say they will not be associated with any chit fund companies in any monetary transaction.
Even now, the overall picture is not as glossy as it seems, or so says Guha-Thakurta. According to her, many associations that won accolades in puja competitions in the past haven't yet paid the artists and master craftsmen till date.
Preparations for the autumn festival begin as early as January. The clubs appoint professional artists to work on the concepts. The myriad themes are based on religious places, tourist spots, historical monuments, socio-economic issues and important political events. Pradip Ghosh, leader of the Congress party and president of the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja in North Kolkata, says, "We started the theme puja in 1993 with the centenary celebration of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech." The club, one of the pioneers of theme pujas in Kolkata, had constructed the replica of the World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago. "We wanted to remind the people of Swamiji's words," he informs.
Ghosh's puja became the talk of town in 2009 when Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja pandal depicted the suspension of work at the Tata Nano plant in Singur. "We even pre-empted the fall of the Left bastion in 2010, a year before the actual Vidhan Sabha results came in," he grins. The depiction of the downfall of the Left Front regime was inspired by the refrain 'Dori dhore maro taan Hirak raja hobe khan khan' (now grab and pull that rope, and the king will shatter into pieces) in Satyajit Ray's film Hirak Rajar Deshe. The pandal was constructed as the replica of the Writers' Building, with a dhoti-kurta-clad statue at the centre. It was shown to resemble then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, wearing a crown reminiscent of the despotic Hirak Raja, which was being pulled down by the common people. However, the club is not courting controversy this year with a serene replica of Vatican City.
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Another prominent organiser, Bosepukur Sitala Mandir, is seeking to recreate the Vamana avatar from the Dashavatara with a budget of over Rs 35 lakh. "This particular avatar is symbolised by his umbrella and paduka with which Vamana stepped on the world. We are constructing a 10-feet long wooden paduka and a model of the earth, which is 40 feet in diameter," informs secretary Kajal Sarkar.
Move a little further and you will see that the pandal of FD Block's puja in Salt Lake is based on the heinous Delhi rape case. The anti-rape theme, designed at a budget of Rs 55 lakh, is depicted through images of women empowerment - women rise up against atrocities meted out to them by demons in the guise of men. "We intend to empower today's women just like the ten gods armed Goddess Durga with different weapons to fight the buffalo-demon, Mahishasura," says Pradip Sengputa, president, FD block puja.
Tapati Guha-Thakurta, professor of history at Kolkata's Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, has extensively researched the evolution of the festival. She says: "Emergence of this new wave of art production, with professional artists and designers being hired on a contract, defines the modern Durga Puja. Not to mention, the footfalls in these pandals exceed several thousand on each of the five puja days."
At least 50-60 per cent of the funds come from corporates. For instance, a large puja like the Santosh Mitra Square gets as much as 80 per cent of the money from corporations. "Very little of our requirement comes through chanda or donations from the para [locality]," says Ghosh. The sudden rise in the puja budget in the last few years was also due to the mushrooming of chit fund companies across the state. What were low-key pujas earlier, could now compete with the bigger ones as a result of this. However, the FD Block puja organisers say they will not be associated with any chit fund companies in any monetary transaction.
Even now, the overall picture is not as glossy as it seems, or so says Guha-Thakurta. According to her, many associations that won accolades in puja competitions in the past haven't yet paid the artists and master craftsmen till date.