<p>Ranchi: A Durga Puja pandal in Ranchi, with the theme of 'Vatican City', has angered the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which alleged that it has been done to "hurt religious sentiments of Hindus" and encourage conversion, charges that were rejected by the organisers.</p>.<p>Vatican City in Europe is the world's smallest sovereign state and the centre of the Roman Catholic Church.</p>.<p>VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal shared on X his reservation about a Durga puja marquee on the theme of 'Vatican City'.</p>.'Operation Sindoor' to 'Life-Journey' themes to attract pandal hoppers this Durga puja in Jharkhand.<p>"This has been done with an objective to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and aimed at encouraging religious conversion. If the organising committee of this Durga puja pandal is so interested in secularism, I would ask them to display a photograph of a Hindu God or Goddess at any event organised by the Church or at Madrasas in Ranchi," Bansal told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>He said that religious symbols of Christianity have been placed at the entrance of the Puja pandal and photographs of Mother Mary and other Christian characters have been displayed inside it.</p>.<p>"The VHP Jharkhand unit would take a strong decision about this soon. We would like to appeal to the organisers to respect religious sentiments and remove Christian symbols and photographs from the pandal," added Bansal.</p>.<p>Vicky Yadav, president of RR Sporting Club which made the Durga Puja pandal rejected the allegations of VHP.</p>.<p>"We have been organising Durga Puja for the last 50 years, and every year we make pandals based on certain themes. This year we decided to replicate the Durga Puja pandal made by Sreebhumi Sporting Club at Kolkata in 2022 on the theme of Vatican City," Yadav said.</p>.<p>He said artisans were employed from Kolkata to recreate the Roman architectural site, St Peter's Basilica and Vatican Museum as a backdrop for the Goddess Durga.</p>.<p>"This pandal had drawn a huge crowd in Kolkata. We too have got positive feedback from Ranchi residents. Nobody is hurt about the pandal theme," he claimed.</p>.<p>Yadav, also the president of Ranchi Zila Durga Puja Samiti, said, "We live in a secular country and people of all communities enjoy Durga puja. We perform puja as per the Vedic tradition and have not done anything to hurt religious sentiments." </p>
<p>Ranchi: A Durga Puja pandal in Ranchi, with the theme of 'Vatican City', has angered the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which alleged that it has been done to "hurt religious sentiments of Hindus" and encourage conversion, charges that were rejected by the organisers.</p>.<p>Vatican City in Europe is the world's smallest sovereign state and the centre of the Roman Catholic Church.</p>.<p>VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal shared on X his reservation about a Durga puja marquee on the theme of 'Vatican City'.</p>.'Operation Sindoor' to 'Life-Journey' themes to attract pandal hoppers this Durga puja in Jharkhand.<p>"This has been done with an objective to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and aimed at encouraging religious conversion. If the organising committee of this Durga puja pandal is so interested in secularism, I would ask them to display a photograph of a Hindu God or Goddess at any event organised by the Church or at Madrasas in Ranchi," Bansal told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>He said that religious symbols of Christianity have been placed at the entrance of the Puja pandal and photographs of Mother Mary and other Christian characters have been displayed inside it.</p>.<p>"The VHP Jharkhand unit would take a strong decision about this soon. We would like to appeal to the organisers to respect religious sentiments and remove Christian symbols and photographs from the pandal," added Bansal.</p>.<p>Vicky Yadav, president of RR Sporting Club which made the Durga Puja pandal rejected the allegations of VHP.</p>.<p>"We have been organising Durga Puja for the last 50 years, and every year we make pandals based on certain themes. This year we decided to replicate the Durga Puja pandal made by Sreebhumi Sporting Club at Kolkata in 2022 on the theme of Vatican City," Yadav said.</p>.<p>He said artisans were employed from Kolkata to recreate the Roman architectural site, St Peter's Basilica and Vatican Museum as a backdrop for the Goddess Durga.</p>.<p>"This pandal had drawn a huge crowd in Kolkata. We too have got positive feedback from Ranchi residents. Nobody is hurt about the pandal theme," he claimed.</p>.<p>Yadav, also the president of Ranchi Zila Durga Puja Samiti, said, "We live in a secular country and people of all communities enjoy Durga puja. We perform puja as per the Vedic tradition and have not done anything to hurt religious sentiments." </p>