There is a boom of Durga Puja in Kolkata. The pandal of South Kolkata Palli Sangh is on the theme ‘Bangla, Amar Maa R Bhasha’, which honors Bangla language and Bengali celebrities. Decorations from Shalpata and idols of Goddess reflect symbols related to education.
Kolkata: The festive season has come and the city of Kolkata is once again filled with colors, lights, devotion and a unique energy. There is already an atmosphere of enthusiasm in Kolkata about Durga Puja, and now the shining and beautifully designed pandals are ready to make it even more spectacular.
One such pandal has been introduced by South Kolkata Palli Sangh, which is in Ashok Nagar area of Toliganj in the city. On its 76th anniversary, the South Kolkata Palli Sangh has created a unique theme – “Bangla, Aamar Maa R Bhasha” (Bengal is the language of my mother), which celebrates the Bangla language. The decoration has paintings showing Bangla letters and words.
Increasing this specialty further, the idols of the children of Goddess Durga have also been given a symbolic form. Goddess Lakshmi is shown holding ‘Barnal Introduction’ – it is a famous childhood book that teaches Bangla alphabet, while Lord Karthik and Lord Ganesha are caught black slate, which is a symbol of education and knowledge.
Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, fulfills this theme even more beautifully.
On the other hand, pandal also pays tribute to Bengali celebrities like Saroj Chandra Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Qazi Nazrul Islam, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore, whose cutouts and photos have been levied with Bangla words and scripts. It also gives a social message, which is shown to be Bengal as a mother and is a symbol of unity, pride and resistance.
Talking about this theme, the organizers say that Bengal is a land where many languages speak together.
By the way, this pandal is made up of ‘Shalpata’ – which is a traditional leaf in West Bengal, and it took three months to complete it.
In another corner of Toliganj, Shanti Palli Puja Committee Durga Pandal was also inaugurated by actress Neelam Kothari Soni.
“I have come to Kolkata for Durga Puja for the first time and it looks great. I will come every year. The decoration, the way the idols are made, I think it is very beautiful,” he told the media.