NEW DELHI, Sept 28:
Innovation is quite the USP for Durga Pujas this year as organisers look to reinvent the celebration of a festival steeped in tradition and age-old lore with everything contemporary, ranging from eco-friendly pavilions to free wi-fi at the venues.
At first sight it may appear to be a fad, but ask Anshuman Sengupta, member of an organising team for D-Block Puja at Chittaranjan Park, and he points out that the free wi-fi they are providing at their pandal, as the shamianas or pavilions are termed in Bengali, opens up a whole new virtual arena for festivities.
“Visitors at the pandal can click photos and instantly post these online using our free wi-fi. It is exciting to think of the reach this would give our puja on social media. We are on facebook and similar platforms ourselves to showcase the puja in the e-space,” says Sengupta.
Clearly, when the puja launches into the world-wide web, ‘likes’ become footfall and ‘shares’ are votes in the contest for being the ‘best puja’.
The CR Park Mela Ground Puja Committee has a busy Facebook page containing all the announcements and the schedule for various events.
The many posts by the visitors to the page are regarding queries about the timings and the programme along with messages of eager anticipation for the puja carnival which kicks off on September 30 and would continue till October 3.
“Dear All, We are on 1400+ Likes… Lets make it 1500… so get set and go. Promote our page and invite friends and lets welcome MAA with 1500 Likes (sic)… Thanks all for the support,” Mela Ground organisers declare in a post on the social networking site.
Not to be outdone, the B-Block Puja Committee has a puja countdown on its Facebook page. The innovativeness quotient for this puja is in its design for the pandal and the variously quirkily-named events for the patrons and visitors.
Thus, apart from the unusual, pot-shaped design for their pandal, there are contests like the ‘Main Khiladi, Tu Anari’ game show, which is looking for talents in the art of balancing trays, walking straight in a blindfold and suchlike.
There is interestingly a senior citizens’ ‘nite’ which organisers say will provide an opportunity to the participants to “pour their hearts out on the stage”.
If the pujas in the Bengali borough of CR Park are making unprecedented strides in their putting together of the celebrations, their counterparts in other pockets in Delhi have not been too far behind either.
The Arambagh Puja near the RK Ashram Metro station on the Panchkuian road has gone eco-friendly in 2014 after a bumper silver jubilee edition last year.
This year, in keeping with the spirit of conservation, the puja has opted for tighter budgeting and green building material for its pandal.
The Arambagh structure, too, pushes the envelope on design as its 50 feet by 30 feet facade is modelled on the head of a buffalo, the buffalo being Mahishashur, the demon lord whose slaying forms a backdrop to Durga’s homecoming for the pujas.
“The idols are made of materials which have no harmful effect and do not pollute water. From the goddess’ idols to the murals and illustrations on the walls, everything has been made with organic material. Even the sari on the idol is made of mud even though it looks like an actual piece of clothing.
“The entire decoration of the pandal is with eco-friendly material such as waste paper, herbal colours, straw and bamboo,” says Anuj Kumar Boruah of Young Monk Communications, in charge of public relations for the puja.
The Matrimandir Puja in Safdarjung has also kept the environment in mind in planning the pandal and used recycled material for their structure.
“The innovation and the novelty factor adds to the uniqueness of the puja. If a social message can be conveyed at the same time, then that is even better,” says Sengupta of D-Block Chittaranjan Park.
“The locality and the community are building blocks of society. Durga Puja is an opportunity for all to participate in a collective expression of joy. The use of social media to share the excitement and the sending out of socially-conscious messages only serve to enhance the puja experience for the people,” he adds. (PTI)
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