New award announced for city Durga puja

With Bengal's biggest festival Durga Puja round the corner, a new award to honour the aesthetically best Durga Pujas in city was announced today.
The award, 'Yudhang Dehi-Sharad Samman', instituted by a media house was announced in the presence of West Bengal ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Bratya Basu.
The 'Forum for Durgotsav', a platform of 300 prominent crowd-puller Durga Puja committees in city, has also been associated with the award.
"They will be judged on the basis of overall concept that will cover all the creative aspects of the Puja, which witnesses lakhs of footfall in the city on five days," one of the organisers said.

A number of awards for Durga Puja has already been instituted by various organisation and state government bodies.
'Forum for Durgotsav' president Partha Ghosh said the organisation will encourage puja committees to showcase the ethnic art and rich cultural tradition of Bengal in their pujas with emphasis on aesthetics.
West Bengal minister of Panchayat and Rural Development and president of 'Ekdalia Puja Committee' Subrata Mukherjee said, "Kolkata pujas had faced many problems during 34-year rule of previous regime but now the situation is different.
"We are all for promoting the creative overdrive in Durga Pujas as we consider it as part of Bengali psyche," he said.