Muted Durga Puja in Delhi this year as Covid-19 pandemic hits festivities

In Chittaranjan Park (CR Park) -- the heart of Durga Puja celebrations in Delhi that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year -- all the major committees have decided not to allow the entry of people and limit physical darshan to members only.

No thematic pandals and majestic idols, fairs or cultural performances. Durga Puja in Delhi this year will mostly be a private affair, bereft of all the grandiose as a majority of puja committees have either cancelled the celebrations or shifted their programmes online to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) disease.

A view of a pandal of goddess Durga seen ahead of Durga Puja, at Chittaranjan Park, in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

In Chittaranjan Park (CR Park) -- the heart of Durga Puja celebrations in Delhi that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year -- all the major committees have decided not to allow the entry of people and limit physical darshan to members only.

Durga Puja this year will be celebrated from October 22 to 25.

Other major committees from across the city such as Aram Bagh, Kashmere Gate (Delhi Durga Puja Samiti), Matri Mandir Samity in Safdarjung Enclave and Milani cultural and welfare association in Mayur Vihar Phase 1 have followed suit, asking devotees to join the rituals online on their respective social media handles.

Every year during the festival, lakhs of people would throng CR Park and its adjoining areas and other pujas across the city for what is called “pandal hopping”. Complete with cultural performances, competitions and food stalls, the pujas have always been crowd-pullers every year. In CR Park, parking used to be a big hassle and would result in traffic jams up to Nehru Place and beyond.

Bhog, the ceremonial food offerings first given to Goddess Durga and then distributed among devotees, will also be home-delivered, they said.

Everything from Pushpanjali (the first community prayer of the day) to the evening Aarti and donations has been shifted online. Committees are even posting texts of all mantras for devotees to chant along as the puja is performed by the priests.

Greater Kailash (GK) MLA and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the decision was taken in a meeting held on Monday morning with various puja committees, the area’s sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), police personnel, and representatives of the south Delhi municipal corporation (SDMC).

To ensure citizens do not crowd outside the temple, Delhi Police will place barricades.

“Around 12 Durga Puja committees from Chittaranjan Park, GK2, GK1, Alaknanda and Kalkaji attended the meeting. It has been unanimously decided that Durga Puja celebrations will be suspended this year due to the pandemic. Most of the population of CR Park and members of puja committees are senior citizens and it is important that they remain indoors and avoid contact with unknown people in pandals,” Bharadwaj said.

The CR Park Kali Mandir Society, which organises one of the biggest Durga Puja festivals in Delhi, attracting around 250,000 visitors every season, has tied up with a DTH service provider and a local cable operator so that devotees can have a darshan of the Durga idol from their houses.

“Worshippers will not be allowed to physically join the puja at the mandap. Pushpanjali will be offered online and the devotees will be required to be ready with flowers and other items in their homes,” said Prodip Ganguly, joint secretary of the society.

““Only for religious reasons, a small Kalash Puja/ Ghat Puja will be attended by 10-15 committee members. This will ensure the continuity of puja by these samitis. I have requested the district administration and local police to help the puja committees in stopping outsiders entering these areas,” Bharadwaj added.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Thakur said, all precautions in view of the Covid-19 pandemic are being taken and arrangements are being made at CR Park in view of the DDMA Guidelines.

“Security arrangements, including anti-terror arrangements with meetings with stakeholders, and crowd-control measures, including those for social distancing, have been put in place,” the DCP said.

The Purbanchal Bangiyo Samiti, an umbrella body of 38 Durga Puja committees in East Delhi, said 14 committees in the area got permission from the district magistrate on Monday to celebrate with the idol but without fanfare.

“Of the 38 puja committees in east Delhi, 14 will have idols but no outsiders will be allowed. It will be restricted to only 10 members per committee. The other 15 committees will do Ghot (kalash) puja either at the homes of one the members or at the usual venue. The remaining nine committees are not organising any form of puja this year,” said Mrinal Kanti Biswas from the Samiti.

Biswas, who is also general secretary of Mayur Vihar Phase 1’s Milani Puja committee, said they organised two metal tanks for the immersion of idols in East Delhi. “One metal tank will be at the Mayur Vihar phase 1 Kali Bari and the other at Purbasha Kali Bari IP Extension. The height of the idols this time have been restricted to 4-5 feet only for easier immersion,” he said.

The Aram Bagh Puja Samiti has shifted their puja to the Narayan Satsang Mandir, Rani Jhansi Complex (Delhi) from October 21 to 26. Their idol is three-and-a-half feet tall compared to the previous year’s 16-feet idol.

Swapan Ganguly, general secretary of New Delhi Kali Bari, one of the oldest Durga Puja organisers in the city, said for the first time, they will not offer bhog on site. “In a first, we will home-deliver Durga Ma’s blessings to whoever gives donation for the bhog. Other visitors who insist on getting bhog will have to make a nominal payment this time and will be given the prasad in packed boxes as they exit from the pandal,” he said.

Ganguly said as per the Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA) orders, they have planned separate entry and exits with sanitising tunnels for visitors. “We are creating a serpentine route for visitors coming to see the Durga idol. There will be no stage performances or food stalls this time,” he said.

In an order issued on October 11, DDMA allowed Navratri and Durga Puja functions to be organised in the national Capital with limited attendees but prohibited all kinds of fairs (melas), food stalls, exhibitions, rallies and processions till October 31.

The Delhi government said teams have been formed by the revenue department to inspect all sites for which applications have been received. “The exact number of approved applications for Durga Pujas in Delhi is unknown as data from all the 11 districts is yet to be compiled,” said a senior official in the Delhi government.