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With over 265 puja pandals, Kashi turns into mini Kolkata
Tilak Mishra, president of Kendriya Puja Samiti, said that there were about 263 Durga Puja Pandals that were enough to give this spiritual city a mini-Kolkata look. Besides, there were around 150 samitis that set up pandals in the rural pockets.
VARANASI: The temple city turned into a mini Kolkata, with more 265 Durga Puja pandals of different themes, shapes and sizes decked up to greet the devotees on the occasion of Durga Puja. Of the themes including Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Tirupati Bala Ji and Vaishno Devi, the KV Corridor is the most appreciated.
“Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is perhaps the biggest development, which the city has witnessed in the recent past. Hence we decided to dedicate this year’s Durga Puja to Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and used it as a theme,” said Suraj Jaiswal, president in-charge of Sanatan Dharma Durga Puja Samiti
Jaiswal said, in order to give the pandal a realistic touch, they hired traditional artists from Kolkata, who studied the structure extensively to give a realistic touch to the pandal. “Initially we studied the image of the corridor and then we planned the pandal accordingly. With the help of plywood, cloth and wood, we are trying to give it a look of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor,” he added. He said the pandal would be ready by October 1.
Some other Durga Puja Samitis have adopted the theme of Tirupati Balaji and also Vaishno Devi.
Tilak Mishra, president of Kendriya Puja Samiti, said that there were about 263 Durga Puja Pandals that were enough to give this spiritual city a mini-Kolkata look. Besides, there were around 150 samitis that set up pandals in the rural pockets. He said there were about 60 places in the city where Ramlila was organized.
The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for crowd management and has formed a committee for ‘visarjan’ ( immersion) of the idols in a decent way. “We have made arrangements to carry out ‘visarjan’ in the ‘kunds’ and artificial ponds in a pollution-free manner,” said Kaushal Raj Sharma, district magistrate.
