Millennium City decks up for puja festivities

Residents of Millenn-ium City are in for a festive treat as Durga Puja organisers here go the extra mile with creative themes for pandals.

Residents of Millenn-ium City are in for a festive treat as Durga Puja organisers here go the extra mile with creative themes for pandals.

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To commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivek-anand and celebrate navratri, one such committee in South City 1 has brought together the festivities at the venue for the first time by replicating the holy Belur Math of Howrah in West Bengal, where the spiritual leader had sought shelter.

"To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivek-anand who started the Ramakrishna Mission, we had started planning the theme-based decoration last year," said SN Ganguly, member of the Sahasrabdi Durga Pooja Committee, South City 1.

Across more than 20 pandals put up in the area, themes range from being environment-friendly to bringing to life the village ways.

At the community centre in Sector 14, one of the oldest puja committees in the city, the pandal has been built with mud walls, thatched roof and a pure clay idol. "We have been organising the puja here for the past 24 years. The idol is made of pure clay, like it used to be in the villages, including the goddess' clothes and jewellry," said Subhankar Sanyal, member of the Purvapali Durga Utsav Committee, Sector 14.

On the other hand, the 12-year-old group in Sushant Lok, has gone the green way.

"Our pandal is eco-friendly, made from bamboo and coconut threads. It has been specially designed by artists from Kolkata," said SK Pal, joint secretary of the Sushant Lok Cultural Society.

Most members have spent more than three months as they brain-stormed to adopt a theme, conceptualise it and finally execute the plans.

"We had to arrange for artists from West Bengal to put together cultural events — music, dance and drama," said Prabhat Chatterjee, president of the Bengali Cultural Society that has been putting up a pandal in DLF City Phase 1 for the past 21 years. This year, the pandal depicts the traditional practices during the festival.