The world’s tallest Durga idol, which made the headlines during the just-concluded Durga Puja festival for various reasons, is set to find a permanent home in the city.
The committee behind the 88-feet tall idol at Deshapriya Park in South Kolkata, which won a place in the Limca Book of Records, is in talks with the state government over the venue where it will be kept on permanent exhibition. Two sites are under consideration at the moment.
The Durga idol was a big draw this Puja but the over-enthusiasm almost led to a stampede in the early days of the festival, which even left Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee worried and forced the authorities to shut it down.
The incident led to a controversy with both the Puja organisers and the city police facing criticism over crowd management. The idol was also in violation of a Calcutta High Court directive that limits the height of Durga idols at 40 feet.
Now, all that is history as the state government has volunteered to help the committee preserve the idol and put it on public display.
The puja committee members said the state government has offered to have the idol installed at either in the park around Rabindra Sarobar Lake in South Kolkata or at Eco Park in Rajarhat New Town in East Kolkata, said Sudipta Kumar, secretary of the committee. “We’ll be visiting the two sites next week and take a call on the final resting place for the towering idol,” he said.
Kumar told reporters that the committee had proposed shifting the idol to a permanent location to the state government even before the Puja started. With the festive season getting over, the government responded to their proposal and agreed to have it on a permanent display.
“We’ll survey these sites along with state officials and take a call on the one most suitable. However, the idol has to be dismantled carefully and moved piece by piece. It will take at least a week to dismantle the idol,” Kumar said.