Kolkata priests take online classes for Durga Puja organisers abroad

KOLKATA: Online classes are not just for students. A host of Bengali gentlemen living in foreign shores and engaged in diverse professions are banking on such tutorials to see them through this festive season. And, a select band of priests, who travel abroad every year to conduct Durga Puja but are unable to do so this time due to the pandemic, are conducting virtual workshops so that these non-resident Bengalis can perform the rituals themselves. The two groups are connecting over different apps and across different time zones for regular two- to three-hour classes in the run-up to the Pujas.
The Bengali community across the seven seas have opted for a very low-key celebration this year, with most shunning public gathering and collective feasting. Unable to fly in priests from Kolkata, the Puja committees have identified a couple of members to attend these online workshops and later perform the rituals on their own.
“We received several requests from Puja organisers in the US, Europe, Canada and other countries to help them out with how to perform the rituals,” said Jayanta Kushary, principal of Sarba Bharatiya Prachya Academy, a school of oriental studies.
The school has been organising 10-day camps with priests for the last three decades.
Kushary has already conducted two sessions in the last week of September and first week of October. A third session will be held just before the Pujas later this month. “Several organisers in these countries have scaled down celebrations due to social-distancing guidelines. So, I have been training them on how to perform all the rituals while adhering to the religious text and safety guidelines,” he said.
Kaushik Mukherjee, a member of the Bangiyo Purohit Sabha, said this year he couldn’t fly to New Jersey where he has been associated with a Durga Puja for the last 11 years. “But I have explained the ritual to the organisers virtually. I will also be connected to them during the festival to help them out if they face any difficulty,” Mukherjee said.
Sourabh Banerjee, who has been nominated by a Puja committee in Toronto to attend online sessions, said: “The Puja this year is going to be very symbolic here since very strict social-distancing rules are in place. I am learning to perform some basic rules performing the Puja.”