A Bengal-like setting of Durga puja can be seen in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, where Prantic Cultural Society is organising a five-day cultural celebration starting Sunday. The event will continue till navami, September 29.
The theme, ‘Our Heritage, Our Pride’, for this year’s celebration has been decided with an aim to showcase the Bengali pride and traditions associated with the festival.
‘Open to all’
“We have chosen this place because we want to showcase Bengal to the people living nearby. It’s important for people to understand our culture and respect it,” said Abhijit Roy, executive member and one of the founder members of Prantic Cultural society, which was established in 2008. The society is a socio-cultural forum consisting of groups of people who are passionate to preserve and promote Bengali art and culture.
Several Bengali organisers and artists have come together at Prantic Cultural Society and the celebration is expected to draw a mix of Bengali and non-Bengali crowd. As many as 35 local societies are associated with Prantic in orgainsing the event. The pandal is designed as an ancient, abandoned zamindar’s (landowner) house and the idea behind this is the amalgamation of the old culture with the new.
“This time, we want to showcase our past in all forms, to present our art and culture in each and every item placed in the pandal,” the cultural head of the society, Sanjiban Deb Roy, said.
The outer area of the setting will be adorned with images of Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood, Mohd. Rafi, Satyajit Ray and various other artistes. “We have not restricted ourselves only to Bengali culture in this attempt. We have put up a gallery projecting the lives of various Indian legends,” Mr. Roy said.
Performances
A Bengal-based band, ‘Bhumi’ has been invited to perform during the event. Various activities have been planned during the five-day celebration, including musical performances, cooking competitions and theatre by children. Singers from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, a TV show, have also been invited to perform at the event.
Manik Pal, the famous idol-maker based in CR Park who is well known for making environment-friendly idols, is designing the idol of Goddess Durga. No artificial colours will be used in the making of the idol.
Tapas Maity, a 48-year-old Bengal-based artist, has been invited by Malay Majumdar, the chairman of the society, to design the pandal. “I have put up the calligraphy of the first text by Rabindranath Tagore that I had read, hoping that all people read it because it’s a big part of our heritage,” said Mr. Maity.
The Prantic Cultural Society of Indirapuram had received the first prize by the Bengal Association in 2016, for its pandal. “This year, we are under a lot of pressure to excel because we got the first prize last year,” said Mr. Abhijit Roy.