Spotlight on BMC HQ replica as Thane gears up for Durga Puja festivity

The 95 ft high replica erected by New Bengal Club is the star attraction at Durga puja pandals this year

Thane: While the Navratri festival is being celebrated with huge pomp and enthusiasm in the city, the Bengali community has ensured that the city induces itself with authentic flavours from Kolkata this Durga Puja. Pandals have their artisans flown from villages of West Bengal to sculpt idols and decorate to preserve their originality.

The New Bengal Club in Thane’s Manpada is known for its out of the box decorations during Durga Puja. This year's theme is 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' and they have made a replica of Mumbai's iconic BMC headquarters built by the British in 1893. It is a 95ft high replica and amongst the tallest attractions this year,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on, Monday, October ,16, 2023. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

This year, the New Bengal Club is all set to host the 22nd Durgotsav with its theme, “Mumbai Meri Jaan”. It has replicated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and claims to be the tallest pandal decoration in the city with a whopping height of 95 feet. Abhijit Chatterjee, president of the club, said, “The club has previously worked on various themes like replicating the famous Akshardham Temple in Delhi and the Royal Palace of Shobhabazar in Kolkata. We believe that the BMC Headquarters is a true representation of our iconic mega city.”

Chatterjee added that every year their club chooses various structures from different states to house the idol of Durga, however, the residents fail to relate to the actual structure due to its distance. Considering the etymology of the name of the city, ‘Mumba’ and ‘Aai’, the club thought it best to house the ‘aai’ in the BMC, a structure that stands for the city.

“Artisans have been employed for two months. The club got special permission from the BMC, permitting its artisans to visit the headquarters several times to study the minute details and get photos of them. The Mumbai’s Angel, one that stands tall on top of the structure, was particularly difficult to replicate as well as to place,” added Chatterjee.

The 16-18 feet high and 22-24 feet wide eco-friendly idol has been crafted by Shubhojit Das and the pandal has been designed by Kazi Manirul Islam, both originally from West Bengal. The club expects a minimum footfall of one lakh people as the devotees visit the entire night, and the chief minister is also expected to pay a visit.

Anindya Dasgupta, president of the Navodaya Trust, which has set up its pandal near Hiranandani Meadows, said, “We wanted to give everyone the essence of traditional Bengali culture. So, we flew down eight to ten highly skilled artisans from Bengal to build a pandal that replicates the temples from Bengal before independence. Today, these traditional temples are found only in the villages of Bengal.”

The pandal is 40 feet high and 35 square feet huge; made from Bamboo and intricate woodwork by hand. Animesh Ganguly, a senior member of the club, said that the pandal is open from the sixth day, and over 5,000 people are expected this year, which includes a cosmopolitan mix.

The idol this year is 12 feet high and spreads across 18 feet with Durga and her kids, Saraswati, Laxmi, Ganapati and Kartik, along with their rides.

“The Trust works towards social causes. We will provide free bhog (food) to at least 1,200 people every morning in the last three days. We have also invited students from signal schools and mentally and physically handicapped children. The Trust is supporting destitute women from Mokhada village in Maharashtra, who sew bags for a living, by allotting them a stall for free and buying 100 bags from them for gifting to these children,” added Dasgupta.