Mumbai pandals turn into palaces for Durga puja

With devotees across the city gearing up to celebrate Durga puja, which begins on Friday, many organisers have gone a step further this year and modelled their pandals

With devotees across the city gearing up to celebrate Durga puja, which begins on Friday, many organisers have gone a step further this year and modelled their pandals into replicas of palaces. The concept has been a constant at many Ganpati pandals and seems to be a hit with Durga puja organisers too.

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Bengal Club Durga Puja at Shivaji Park has roped in art director Nitin Desai, who designs the pandal of Lalbaugcharaja, to recreate a palace at their pandal. “Every year, the look of the pandal is pretty simple, but this year we thought we could make Durga sit in a darbaar,” said Mitali Choudhury, spokesperson, Bengal Club, Shivaji Park.

Bombay Durgabari Samiti’s Durga Puja, which is the city’s oldest Durga puja pandal, has created a replica of Sheesh Mahal, where idols of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh will be dressed in Benarasi sarees and adorned with gold jewellery. “We have had eco-friendly celebration since the last six years as we want to show that beauty need not be harmful,” said Jayanta Basu, president of Bombay Durgabari Samiti.