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Photos: On Maha Ashtami, Durga Puja pandals across India bring cheer with their creativity
Maha Ashtami or Durga Ashtami is the most auspicious day of the Durga Puja festival held across India. The festivities take on a totally different scale in Kolkata, where the Bengali community comes together to not just celebrate the weapons of Goddess Durga but also to decorate the pandals based on several creative themes, year after year. This seems to have spilled over to the rest of India as well. Ranging from women’s empowerment to tribal art, here’s a look at the best artistic Durga Puja pandals of 2017.
Updated on: Sep 28, 2017 10:39 PM IST
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Durga Puja is one of India’s biggest festivals, celebrated with much fervour, especially in West Bengal. Pandals mark the sign of fine artistry and the culinary experience is exquisite as well. The Nalin Sarkar Street Durga Puja in Kolkata has focused on the theme of ‘Divyangs.’ (Samir Jana / HT Photo)
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The pandals with their assortment of performances, mural displays and food stalls reflect the Bengali way of life, a sight that comes to life during Durga Puja each year. (Samir Jana / HT Photo)
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The daily rituals are gender-inclusive, as men and women take part in religious chants, dances and offerings. (Satyabrata Tripathy / HT Photo)
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A community pandal bases its art on the famous sphinxs of Egypt in a tribute to that ancient civilization in Kolkata. (PTI)
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The Sreebhumi Sporting Club Durga Puja at Lake Town in Kolkata has commissioned artists from Chandernagore to construct gates adorned by elaborate lights. (Samir Jana / HT Photo)
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In their 51st year now, the Kali Bari of Safdarjang Enclave, New Delhi has adopted women’s empowerment as their central theme, in which cricketers, athletes and murals of women icons have been showcased. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)
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Idols and effigies seen at the Durga Puja pandal of the Ranchi Railway station Durga Puja Samiti.The nature of Durga Puja has changed over time and the present puja is as much about mingling and having fun, as it is about celebrating the Goddess Durga. (Parwaz Khan / HT Photo)
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Members of the Indian women’s cricket team are seen personified as murals in line with Safdarjang Enclave Kali Bari’s Women’s Empowerment theme during this year’s Durga Puja festivities. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)
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In Ranchi, the Durga Puja pandal of the OCC Durga Puja Club has incorporated tribal art forms of that region in its murals leading up to the main pandal. (Parwaz Khan/ HT Photo)
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Actress Sharbani Mukherjee and other devotees take part in the festivities at the North Bombay Sarbojanik Durga Puja,Tulip Star in Juhu, Mumbai. (Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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The Durga Puja pandal of the Milani Cultural & Welfare Association in Mayur Vihar, New Delhi employs a theme which revives the nostalgic enigma of Jasimuddin’s famous poem, ‘Nakshi Kathar Math’. The rich artifacts and craftsmanship of Bengal’s otherwise dying art has been promoted by the display of Kanthas, a hand-stitched custom by the artisans of Bengal. (Mohd Zakir / HT PHOTO)
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