Capital decks up with Durga Puja fervour in with full swing

Puja committees since the past few weeks have been spending hours finalising the themes, pandal decorations, idols as well as immersion plans.

You know its Durga Puja when you see pandals, markets packed with life-sized idols, embellished streets, and assorted food stalls across the city. The five-day event has always been a prominent part of the festival season in the national capital.

Durga Puja celebrations at the Cooperative Ground Durga Puja Samiti, in CR Park on Sunday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

While the main celebrations started on Sunday,puja committees since the past few weeks have been spending hours finalising the themes, pandal decorations, idols as well as immersion plans.

While the rituals and cultural programmes stay traditional at all Durga Puja pandals, the committee at Delhi Cantonment has decided to incorporate patriotism this time, with a theme focussed on “Operation Sindoor”. The elements include a drone, rifle, chopper, and the Rafale fighter jet.

“We are completing 25 years this time and our theme focuses on Operation Sindoor. While Bengalis here are definitely the backbone of the puja, we see wide participation from across faiths,” Indranil Ghosh, president of the committee, said.

“As a tribute to the Indian armed forces, there will be elements incorporated into Durga’s idol. For example, in place of the sudarshan chakra, there will be a drone. Rifle, chopper and Rafale of the Indian Airforce will also be placed. As part of the design tweaks, a replica of a bomb will be attached to the end of the trident (trishul) that goddess Durga wields to kill the demon Mahishasura,” Ghosh added.

The committee president also informed that the idol for this pandal is being prepared in southwest Delhi’s Janakpuri, while the special elements are being transported from Kolkata.

Further, among the eight pujas in south Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, three of them are celebrating their golden jubilee this year. One of the primary Durga Pujas in CR Park, over the years, has been the Kali Mandir puja.

Anjanesh Bhattacharyya, vice president of the Kali Mandir puja and chairman of the puja division, said they are sticking to old traditions.

“Our puja will be a very traditional one, away from the majority of the modern themes. However, we have put extra focus on the decoration of the pandal. Further, cultural programmes always play a huge part in our puja. In some of the pujas in CR Park, baul singers (folk song artists) are also coming from Kolkata and Shantiniketan,” Bhattacharyya added.

Prodip Ganguly, secretary of the Durga Puja committee at CR Park’s Kali Mandir added they are anticipating huge crowds during the puja days, so extra volunteers have been added to the disaster management team and ambulance and medical facilities will also be ready before hand.

Debashis Bhowmick from the Patel Nagar Puja Samiti said they will be celebrating their diamond jubilee this year. “The bhog this time will be something to behold. Additionally, the pandal is being decorated as Kolkata’s popular Rajbari puja.”

Bhowmick added that the government has helped puja committees across the city in preparations, including that of immersion.

“There will be four six-feet deep artificial ponds in 11 districts across Delhi for immersion of idols. We have faced a bit of overlap and problems during the immersion in the past few years. This year, it might be more systematic.”