Themes set to come alive

It’s that time of the year again when the air is filled with the beats of ‘dhaak’, the soothing sound of the conch shells and the fragrance of the incense sticks. With ‘Durga puja’ around the corner Assamese and Bengalis in the city are decking up their ‘pandals’. 

Pranab Jyoti Borah, general secretary of Assam Association Bangalore, says, “Our celebrations are happening at Sir M Visvesvaraya College Grounds. We are donning the idols in our traditional attire like the ‘mekhla sador’ and ‘dhoti’. Right from food to jewellery, everything will reflect the culture of Assam. Like every year, we have kept our celebrations eco-friendly this time also. Instead of using plastic plates and bowls, we will be using banana leaves and areca leaf sheaths to serve food.”

The Bengalee Association will be organising this year’s puja at the Manpho Convention Centre, Outer Ring Road.

Riniki Ghosh, a committee member, says that this is done to make it convenient and enjoyable for a large number of visitors. “We are starting the ‘puja’ from the fifth day of ‘Navaratri’. We are expecting more people to visit our ‘pandals’ this year. And since the location is indoors this time, the unpredictable rains won’t affect the celebrations. We have also organised cultural programmes which will be held in the evenings. Apart from this, we will distribute ‘bhog’ everyday from ‘Saptami’ till ‘Navami’.” To keep the visitors engaged, the committee has also planned an innovative cooking competition for women. It is the fifth year that the Bannerghatta Durga Foundation is conducting the Bannerghatta ‘Durga puja’. Priya
Mukherjee, a committee member, says that this time the celebration will be in a larger area and the committee is expecting a lot more footfall. “The idea is to take the celebration back to the roots. Our theme is ‘Gram Bangla’ and there will be a village-style setup. Like every year, our focus is on the puja and our ‘purohits’ and cooks are coming from West Bengal,” says
Priya. Food being an important part of the celebrations, there will be lunch offered on each day.  

For the ‘BengaliinBangalore’ association, the concept reflects a picture of the villages of West Bengal. Sudipta Dey, the president of the association says, “Apart from the traditional ‘puja’ that will start from September 26 to 30 at BTM Layout. We also have programmes by the members, a band and an artiste from West Bengal performing.”