140 Durga Puja pandals to come up in Bengaluru

After two-year pandemic-induced restrictions, the city is gearing up for extravagant Durga puja festivities with about 140 pandals to come up across the city in the next couple of days.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has already approved over 100 applications to set up stalls at the zonal level.

“Majority of the applications are from Ulsoor and surrounding areas in the East Zone followed by a few from the South Zone. The celebrations are minimal in other zones,” a senior BBMP official said.

Various city associations have already started preparing for the celebrations and are expecting heavy footfall. “We are expecting at least 140 pandals to come up across the city. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will inaugurate the celebrations at Manpho Convention Centre on October 1, and we were expecting that at least 50,000 people will be a part of the celebrations every day till October 4,” said Rudra Shankar Roy from the Bengaluru Durga Puja Committee.

From Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav and 75 years of independence to celebrating the works of painter Jamini Roy, the associations have also planned various themes for the event.

“We plan to celebrate the works of veteran artist Jamini Roy. We have planned a number of cultural events. Artists from West Bengal will entertain the audience,” said Kalyan Pathak from the North Bangalore Cultural Samithi, which is celebrating the 45th year of celebrations.

The Bongodhara Cultural Association has planned an art-based theme for this year’s celebrations. “We plan to combine India’s oldest art form — Mandala Art — with the first modern art form — Kalighat Pattachitra from West Bengal,” said Aparajita Ray from the Bongodhara Cultural Association.

The celebrations across the city are expected to start on October 1 and go on till October 5. They will include performances by renowned artists, cultural events and rituals.

BBMP officials said immersion of Durga idols has been planned in a few city lakes, Halasuru Lake and Sankey tank being the major ones.

WB idol makers

Since the city is moving back to pre-pandemic celebrations, there has been an increase in demand for Durga idols, the most colourful of which have already hit the market. The idols have been designed to portray various avatars of the goddess and depict scenes from mythology.

Idol makers from West Bengal have arrived in Bengaluru to design idols for the increasing demand. “Our idol is prepared by Tarun Pal, an artist from Kumartuli, West Bengal. He has also designed another 50 to 60 idols for various pandals in the city,” said Rudra Shankar Roy from the Bengaluru Durga Puja Committee.