Durga Puja 2020: Celebs talk about making merry at home, opting for virtual darshan

TV stars Tinaa Dattaa, Sayantani Ghosh, Vishawanath Chatterjee, Pooja Bannerjee, Anushka Sen and Avinash Mukherjee share plans of celebrating Durga Puja in the new normal.

Durga Puja is all about dressing up in your finery, queuing up for Devi darshan, waiting for special puja bhog, gorging on amazing street food, the customary dhunuchi naach, sindoor khela and much more. Cut to 2020, the celebrations will definitely be a mellowed version, all thanks to the pandemic. Celebrities, too, share how festivities this year would be different, with celebrations going virtual.

Actors Tinaa Dattaa, Anushka Sen and Avinash Mukherjee, among others share how this year Durga Puja will be a different experience altogether.

Tinaa Dattaa

There would be no pandal hopping, meeting friends or relishing street food. I won’t take the risk of stepping out and urge everyone to do the same unless necessary. We have to behave responsibly. I have a small idol of Maa Durga, like the ones you see in pandals, so I’ll do my puja, aarti and prepare delicacies at home. Recently, my memory of doing dhunuchi naach popped up on Instagram and my heart sank thinking how this seems like a thing of the past. This time, I don’t see anything happening in Mumbai and I feel that’s the right approach given the pandemic. I plan to do Devi darshan (for both Kolkata and Mumbai) virtually and donate clothes to kids who are in need.

Vishwanath Chatterjee

My wife has managed to purchase new clothes for everyone in the family as it is a cardinal rule of the festival. I’ll miss the elaborate bhog, gorging on egg rolls, maach bhaja etc. Dhunuchi naach is also another thing which is very dear to me as it not only reminds me of my very first humble performances at the pandals but the fact that Pujo feels incomplete without it. In Mumbai, this year, an innovative way of letting the bhakts venerate the devi is being planned where they’ve installed CCTV cameras for live darshan and aarti.

Avinash Mukherjee

To be honest, I’m extremely sad that this year I won’t be able to celebrate Durga Puja the way I’ve been doing all these years. The festival is all about us planning throughout the year as to what we would be doing in those five days. We’ve our own Sharbojonin Durga Puja at our Delhi home but this time I won’t be able to go. The puja will strictly be a close family affair. And I’ll be a part of the prayers, pushpanjali and aarti via video call from my Mumbai home.

Anushka Sen

For us Bengalis, Durga Puja is the most auspicious festival. We indulge ourselves in pandal hopping at night, buy new clothes and don’t miss having yummy Bengali delicacies. But this year, all our plans have been pushed on the back-burner. I’m sad, but given the Covid-19 situation, safety is priority. My family and I will have digital Durga Puja celebration this year. We’ll do pushpanjali and aarti through video links and have special food prepared by my mum at home.

Sayantani Ghosh

I’ll miss pandal hopping, pushpanjali, bhog, street food and every aspect of the celebration. Neither I nor my family members will step out because if we don’t act responsibly, we won’t be able to control the virus from spreading… so all our celebrations will be at home. I hope, this year, we celebrate the strength and good all the more given the situation. When we pray to Devi shakti, we must remember the issues women and the girl child are yet facing in our country. Let’s imbibe the qualities of love and strength from Maa and respect each other.

Pooja Banerjee

To be honest, I’m extremely sad that this year I won’t be able to celebrate Durga Puja the way I’ve been doing all these years. The festival is all about us planning throughout the year as to what we would be doing in those five days. We’ve our own Sharbojonin Durga Puja at our Delhi home but this time I won’t be able to go. The puja will strictly be a close family affair. And I’ll be a part of the prayers, pushpanjali and aarti via video call from my Mumbai home.

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ