Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

সের, পাই, পোয়া, ছটাক - the measures of ancient Bengal are now obsolete. But the pot by which the measurement is being done, one can see at the puja pandal of Santoshpur Trikon Park, beside Sukanta Setu. Under the supervision of artist Supratim Karmakar, the folk artists of village Lokpur, Khoirashol block of Birbhum district are creating the said pots made of wood. Decoration of brass on the woods will depict the art work of those measurement pots used once upon a time by the housewives of Bengal. 500 kg brass would be used for this purpose at the puja pandal. Lake Pally is very near to Trikon Park. And the lake is being bloomed by রক্তজবা। The pandal is being made in the form of red China rose (রক্তজবা). Tuffet clothes is being used for this purpose on the wire. The stalk of flower is the main entrance of puja pandal. But, not only one flower, the visitors will witness a land of flowers in the main pandal where, within the purview of effects of lights - vivid coloured...

73 years old Nabadurga of Garia Mitali Sangha has taken a theme this year to make a bridge between tradition and modern outlook. small cruets of homeopathic medicine, fibre, cotton etc used to decorate the pandal. Fusion of light and sound will pave the way for the emergence of debi Durga like a cyclone. The tales of Purana will also depict this light & sound here. The vivid images of Ma Durga during the killing of demon asur, would also be created by this fusion of light & sound. And all of this modern perspectives will be represented in front of their traditional Durga pratima. -- A. B.

Durga puja of Laha bari is one of the oldest puja of Kolkata. This year, the puja would be performed in the house of Ajay Laha, at Kailash Bose Street. About 355 years ago, Banamali Laha of this family initiated Durga puja at Borshul of Bardhaman district. Then, about 230 years ago, Madhu mangal Laha of this family used to performed Durga puja at Chuchura of Hooghly district. And Maharaj Durga charan Laha founded Durga puja in Kolkata, about 165 years ago. The same structure is being used every year to make clay idol of debi Durga. But the orientation of idols is not the same as we see. Here lord Shiva is sitting on the ox named Nandi, and debi Durga is on the lap of Shiva. And the other places of the idols are same as we can see. The speciality of Laha Bari's Durga puja is the "bhog" where various sweets are presented, such as চুম্বের নাড়ু, নারকেল নাড়ু, তিলের নাড়ু, মুগের নাড়ু, ছোলার নাড়ু, বুটের নাড়ু made by চাল গুঁড়ো-নারকোল-গুড়, মুড়ির খোয়া, বেলা প...

'Atho Lippon Katha' is the theme of this 29th year's Durga puja of Barisha Tarun Tirtha. 'Lippon Kaam' in Gujarati means to dab with the paste of mud and water. Rabari tribes of Kach area of Gujarat use to prepare paste with the stool of camel and mud. Then the females of this tribe use to dab the outer and inner walls of their house with that paste and make beautiful images of birds, trees, peacocks and humans. This art work would be the theme of this 29th year's Durga puja of Barisha Tarun Tirtha, situated at Kalipada Mukherjee Road of Behala Chowrasta (4 point crossing). White is the colour of this Lippon art work of Gujarat. Hence, thick dab of white colour on the idol of sand colour...and art work of glasses on it. On the back, niche (কুলুঙ্গি), and inside it, lamp stand made of clay. Earrings made of clay-pots on the ears of debi Durga... and there are no 'Asur' (মহিষাসুর). Manik Das has made this clay idol of debi Durga. Tied brickba...

Traditional Durga idol is not being worshiped in the Kabiraj Bari of Kumortuli, within the 'ak chala', on the right side Lakshmi is there along with Kartick, and Saraswati is with Ganesh on the left side. It is the family tradition being observed for the last 168 years. Ganga Prasad Sen was the Kabiraj doctor of Sri Ramakrishna. Thakur used to call him 'Dhannwantari' (ধন্বন্তরি). The Kabiraj had earned so many rupees in life, that he initiated Durga puja in his premises with much pomp and grandeur. Once, month-long jatra, puppet show, bai naach etc used to organised during Durga puja. Even the famous Gaharjaan also came to Kolkata to perform at the Kabiraj Bari in the Naach ghar. Now, the past amusements are no more, but, daily 200-250 persons use to take meal during Durga puja. The naach ghar is being used for this purpose. The females of the family use to cook rice, khichri & polao as 'bhog' on saptami, ashtami, and nabami. Kabiraj Gangaprasad Sen consti...

The puja pandal of Hindustan Park Sarbojanin is making like a temple. -- A. B.

SIMLA BAYAM SAMITY: The inhabitants of north Kolkata know this 88 year's old puja as "বড়ো সিমলে"। Mahendra Dutta - the middle brother of Swami Vivekananda initiated this puja in the year 1939. Traditional debi pratima is the speciality of this puja. This year, the main entrance of Golden Temple of Amritsar is being made here by jute and coloured clothes. Basudeb Paul is the maker of idol. TARUN SPORTING : It is on the opposite side of Simla Bayam Samity. In this 71st year's puja, a piece of Sundarban would be seen here. The theme is: "বনচারিণী দেবী রূপে স্বর্ণবর্ণা । অন্তরে বনবিবি বাহিরে মৎস্যকন্যা"। Radha Raman Paul creating the idol of debi Durga in the form of 'Bonbibi'. The pandal would like to be a mermaid. The greenish mermaid seems to be a movable 'mayurpankhi' boat. 'Bonbibi' s 'than' will be inside the pandal. The matched lighting would be there. And the puja will be inaugurated on the day of Chaturthi. VIVEKAN...

The place of snakes in the Purana is very ancient and important. Durga puja of Sovabazar Sarbojanin Durgotsab committee is decorating their pandal by vivid pictures of 'Manasa Mangal'. They're using 'আশ' of snakes in this respect. The pandal is being made by iron. -- A. B.

J'Pur Bayam Samity have partially taken the theme of Behala Club - as the life comes from the seed, blessings of debi Durga also can find one by continuous prayer. Hence, the theme here is: preservation of seeds. One can find here seeds on the mattresses and the pandal would be made of those mattresses. The ornaments of idols will also be made of seeds. -- A. B.

In this 70th year's puja, 'Jermination' would be the theme of Behala Club. The pandal would be a fruit and debi Durga will bbe established in the centre of it. And the fact of 'Life from the seeds' would be depicted in front of the main pandal. -- A. B.

Art work and religions of various countries would be the theme of this 79th year's Durga puja of Mudiali Sarbojanin. The pandal have three parts. Buddhist pagoda at the first part. The top of the pagoda would be adorned by Thangoka art of Tibbet. Colourful pebbles of China will be on the top. Church will be the second part. Art work of Thangoka would be on the both wall's golden cloth. Debi Durga would be established on the last stage of pandal which is a Hindu temple. And Islamic Jafri art work will be on the entire pandal. -- A. B.

It is 74th year's Durga puja of Pathuriaghata 5er Pally Sarbojanin. And the art work of Mali is the theme of this year's Durga puja. Mali is a small country of west Africa. Communities like Bambara, Dogan of that country use to make masks by engraving woods. They use to decorate their houses also by mud, clay and branches of trees. The skin of trees, dry fruits and hay would be the elements of pandal. Ornaments of skin of trees will be on the idol. In fact, the naive of Mali and their cultural activities will be the main attraction of this puja. -- A. B.

Mullick bari of Bhawanipore preparing itself for ensuing Durga Puja. The idol of debi Durga would be painted now. 'Chandipaath' would be echoed here from the very auspicious day of Mahalaya. b The inception of Durga puja here at Mullick bari was in the year 1925. But their ancestors initiated puja at Guptipara of Hooghly district in the year 1860. Mullick bari of Bhawanipore is the ancestral house of veteran actor Ranjit Mullick. His grandfather's father Radha Gobinda Mullick founded the Durga puja at the Thakur Dalan of Mullick Bari; since then, the puja is being performed here. Mullick Bari have two Thakur Dalan - Durga Dalan of inner house and Annapurna Dalan of outer house. But the Durga puja is being performed at Durga Dalan. Even Lakshmi, Saraswati - all the pujas are being performed here. 'Ak chala' idol and ডাকের সাজ are the custom here. কলা বউ is being bathed inside the house. The puja is being performed here according to বিশুদ্ধ সিদ্ধান্ত। Moreover, লু...

Ultodanga Sangrami is uplifting the endangered Gond tribe's social and cultural activities at this year's Durga puja. In this 51st year's puja, they are depicting the Durga puja or autumn festival of Gond tribes. Gond is an ancient tribe of middle India and deep forests of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The artist Prashanta Paul is representing their art work by his imagination. Wild life, tribal culture are occupying Gond's lifestyle very much. -- A. B.

Theme-maker Sanatan Dinda is creating the idol of debi Durga for Jodhpur Park 95 Pally. -- A. B.

Dream-girl Hema Malini inaugurated the renovated Bhu-Kailash temple of Khidderpur, where 232 years old, Asia's largest Shiva-linga is situated. It is now heritage temple, older than Victoria Memorial or Indian Museum or Fort William. Precious Parsian stone adorned the Bhu-Kailash raj bari The royal family resided at obsolete Garh Gobindapur, situated where the Fort William is now. But, later built the present palace at Khiddirpur. It is almost a museum - so many histories of nabab's regime, British reign are there in the rooms of palace. In front, beside 'Shib-Ganga' pool, two beautiful temples - the big for Krishnachandreswar and the small for Raktakamaleswar. Joynarayan Ghoshal - the founder maharaja of this royal dynasty, had built the temples in memory of his parents. The family goddess 'Patit pabani's temple is inside the palace. Sadhak Ramprasad once initiated the 'ashtodhatu' idol's worship. -- A. B.

'A piece of Bengal' is the theme of Suruchi Sangha's Durga puja this year. Theme-maker Subrata Bandyopadhyay is creating the puja pandal for three years consecutively. Suruchi Sangha has represented the theme of Kashmir, Manipur and Goa earlier. But this year, they intended to return to Bengal to depict the social and cultural richness, heritage and traditions of Bangla. Bengal's folk tales are being told here in the form of 'aat chala'. Famous industry of Shantiniketan - jafri of leather, beni of jute, fabrics of hay, art work of cane, pillar of terracotta of Bankura, mat industry of Medinipur, Khagrai industry of Murshidabad, Katha Stich, art work of sola etc are being used to decorate inside and outside of the puja pandal.The autumnal Catkin (কাশফুল), Champak tree, Shiuli (শিউলি) tree would be there along with drummers (ঢাকি) room made by leaves of 'Sedge' (হোগলা). Tea and pineapples of north Bengal's rough areas has been made here...

On this diamond jubilee year, Badamtala Ashar Sangha is creating the theme of reality and abstract. The artist Sushanta Paul and music comoser Pandit Mallar Ghosh - the makers of this theme. A long staircase has been made here. From the adjacent trees, the zigzag staircases are going to various houses. To create the atmosphere of festival, various lamps would be kept on the staircases. The falchion of asur will 25 feet long. And the falchion is tangled a tree. The lotus on the hand of Ganesh is 9 feet long. Kartick and Saraswati are sitting here on a giant 'ডমরু'। Hanging doors and windows on the tree, in front of pandal. Within the abstract thoughts, reality and imagination are going here hand to hand... -- A. B.

233 year's old Durga puja of Beadon Street's Chatu babu - Latu babu's house is still have the aristocracy, traditions and heritage of past. This year also they'll perform the puja with same tradition. Ramdulal Deb was the founder of this puja. But it became famous during the era of his two son - Ashutosh and Pramatha Nath Deb. Ashutosh was known as Chatu babu and Pramatha Nath as Latu babu. The process of puja use to start from the day of Mahalaya. Regular Chandipaath, aarti...then 'bodhan' on Shasthi. The puja is being performed here according to rules and regulations said in "বৃহৎনান্দীকেশ্বর পুরাণ" । Sacrifice of gourd, sugarcane on the saptami, ashtami and nabami days...'kumari puja' on ashtami are use to perform here. The idol is of traditional 'ak chala', chalchitra in 'motchubri' form, face of horse on the body of lion...debi Lakshmi and Saraswati are bring worshiped here as Jaya-Bijaya. The 'Thaku...

Pre-platinum jubilee year's theme Durga puja of Ahiritola Sarbojanin is : 'উত্তর কলকাতার বনেদিয়ানা' (aristocracy of north Kolkata). The traditions of north Kolkata is century-old. It is totally different from south Kolkata. 'adda' of rocks, late rising, marketing, kites flying, flight of doves, flavour of joint families - these are the heritage of north Kolkata. Puja committee of Ahiritola Sarbojanin is creating this atmosphere in their Durga puja pandal this year. Bagbazar Sarbojanin always try to maintain traditional heritage of Durga puja, but, they create the main pandal in the form of any famous monument of the country, different every year. This year also they're maintaining the tradition in the idol of debi Durga, but, building the puja pandal in the form of Mysore's Jagmohan Palace. Nalin Sarkar Street Durga puja committee is famous for the innovative style of images of debi Durga. This year also, they have thought about the flower ...

'দেবীগর্জন' is the theme of Dum Dum Park Tarun Dal organised Durga puja. The curse of urbanisation is the construction of multistoried buildings by covering the pond and pools. Mass protest is the need of the hour to prevent such malpractices. It is the theme of this year. Bharat Chakra is near Tarun Dal. They're creating the theme this 13th year as "কাঠের সাথে কাঠ মিলিয়ে দেব সবার চোখ জুড়িয়ে । টুকরো কাঠের গাঁট বেধে মায়ের রূপ উঠবে ফুটে।" Wood is the main element of decoration of pandal here. The 10 Avatars of Lord Vishnu are being depicted by 10-15 mm wood pieces...on coloured canvases of 6*3 sqf, three dimensional images are being expressed. The main pandal would be in the shape of imaginary Vishnu temple. The main attraction would be lampshades made by peel of gourd (লাউ). But the idol of debi Durga would be made of clay, traditional. -- A. B.

'danuj dalani' debi Durga will be worshiped at the puja pandal of Selimpur Durgotsab Committee of south Kolkata. The 'asur' is being made here by nut & bolts. The demons are being watered here to purify them. Artificial waterfall is being created here. The water will fall on the heads of the demons and they'd be purified. On the way is Selimpur Club. The art work of cotton and Nakshi Katha are the main elements of pandal decoration. The pandal would gorgeously glitter by colourful threads. Four & half thousand reel to roll the threads would be there. The almost obsolete 'nakshi katha' art work would decorate the pandal. The name of the theme is "চিরন্তনী, সুতানুটি"। If you cross the road from here, then you can find Jodhpur Park 95 Pally's Durga puja, inside the lane. Their last year's idol is carefully kept at the museum of Rabindra Sarobar. The artist here: Sanatan Dinda. Farmers of Bengal have the riped crops i...

Preparation of Durga puja of Basumullick family of north Kolkata, which started in the year 1831, is on. Radhanath Mullick initiated the puja in his house. Later, Khsetrachandra Basumullick had started his puja. Now, the families have three separate Durga puja. All the families of Basumullick reside at Radhanath Mullick Lane, adjacent to College Square. Durga puja of Radhanath Mullick's family is the oldest. The idol is traditional 'ak chala' here. But, the face of lion resembles to that of horse. 'Kala Bou' use to take dip inside the house. The house of Khsetrachandra Basumullick is near. They've 'Thakur dalan' to perform the puja. Time has changed many traditions. But not abled to snatch joy - the family still enjoy the puja within limitations. -- A. B.

Uttarakhand event would be depicted at the puja pandal of College Square. The devastating incident is being decorated here by the upcoming artist of Shantipur - Supratik Das. The 72-hours long flood of Uttarakhand is being implemented here on the pool...the vanishing of idol of lord Shiva under the water...all the events would be recreated here. The main pandal will be replica of Thailand's Nag Temple. Shishmahal of glasses would be inside the pandal. The main pandal will be of 60 feet high. Moreover, a famous bridge of London and various events of Olympics would be there on the pool to attract viewers. The decoration inside the pandal was started on the day of Rath Yatra. As a whole, this 66 year's puja would bring another dimension this year, would please the viewers, it's the hope of organisers. -- A. B.

This is the Chandi Mandap of Malda's Chanchal Paharpur Raj family's goddess - 'ashtodhatu' idol of debi Durga. The idol is being kept here throughout the year, and during Durga puja, this family idol use to bring at the puja mandap to keep beside the clay idols. This puja is about 300 year's old. It says that Ramchandra Roychoudhury - grandfather of raja Saratchandra Roychoudhury was the founder of this puja. He picked the 'ashtodhatu' idol of debi Durga from the Satighat of river Mahananda. And established at their Chandi Mandap. The ancestors of them were the Dewans of Nilkuthi. All the communities use to take part in this festival. -- A. B.

108 blue lotuses once served by Sri Ramchandra to the goddess Durga. That flower is the theme of this year's Durga puja of Chaltabagan Loha Patty. A gigantic lotus of about 80 feet long and 35 feet wide is the main pandal of this puja committee. The pandal is being made on the not-so-wide road of Raja Rammohan Sarani of Maniktala area. -- A. B.

Today I went to Serampore to observe Vishwakarma puja there. -- A. B.

Ancient cave temple, where more than 350 Arya gods & goddesses reside. Innumerable mural on the walls of cave. But the cave is made by news papers. And that is the surprise of this 54th year's Durga puja of Maniktala Lalabagan Nabankur. The whole pandal, mythological idols are being made by 30-35 tons of news papers. 'Durga Darshan' is the theme. Visitors will watch mythological idols in the ancient cave temple. Hence, it would be the perfect match of ancient tradition with modern perspective. -- A. B.

223 year's old Durga Puja of Rani Rasmoni's house at Janbazar is under preparation. The artists of Ahmedpur of Birbhum district are creating the idols here by generations. The puja would start from Pratipod. Daily Chandi paath and bhog till Nabami. 5 Nos. of priests use to perform rituals. Sacrifice of animals has been stopped totally since the year 2003. Kumari Puja is performed from Saptami to Nabami. The Shiva linga is being made everyday and immers at sunset. It is worth to watch the puja of Rani Rasmoni's house. -- A. B.

Durga puja of Sovabazar rajbari was initiated by Raja Nabakrishna Deb. Preparation of making clay idols is going on, but the whimsical weather is creating problems for the artists. The 'Chakshudan' event (painting of eyes) would be on the day after Mahalaya. But, they know the customs. From the seven forefathers of organisers, clay artist, priest, drummers, cook, sehnai players - all of them are working here by generations. It says, the victory of war of Plassey was first celebrated by the Durga puja of Deb family. This puja was initiated in the year 1757. During rituals, it is the custom of Deb family to wear dhuti and sari only. -- A. B.

Preparation of 500 year's old Durga puja of Ghosh family at Begumpur of Hooghly district is going on. Banamali Ghosh - one of the member of this family was the disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He was resided in Howrah. When Swamiji returned from Chicago in the year 1896, he was resided at the house of Banamali Ghosh and handed over the turban he wore in Chicago. Since then, the turban is there in the Ghosh family in Howrah. Durga puja is being performed at the house of Ghosh family of Begumpur for the last 500 years. The idol is being prepared from the day of Janmashtami. But the most interesting part of this puja is the fact that it remain not only the puja of Hindus, but the performance of Muslims are being recognised every year. Sheikh Halim - the local youth is responsible for the immersion of debi Durga. Under his supervision, debi Durga goes to the river for immersion. It is a unique example of communal harmony around the festival. -- A. B.

Preparation of 'Baro debi' Durga puja is on at Cooch Behar Rajbari. The height of idol is about 18 feet. On the right, the original idols of temple being worshiped throughout the year. The bank of river Torsa will again flourish with joy around the Durga puja. -- A. B.

'Khelaghar' is the theme of this year's Durga puja of Hossainpur Kishore Sangha. It is situated at the back side of Ruby Hospital. The pandal is being decorated with badminton rackets. Moreover, rackets of tennis would also be there. And bat-ball of cricket will also decorate the puja pandal. The organisers of this puja intend to spread mass awareness amongst children about the importance of games & sports in our life. -- A. B.

Composer-singer A R Rahaman will perform a show on 1st October, 2013 at Salt Lake Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium. It would be a grand musical programme of fusion, classic, bollywood with so many dancers. Sukhbinder Singh, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan ('Jiya Re' fame), Vijay Prakash & Harshdeep Kaur will accompany Rahaman as vocalists. Ticket booking is on since 15 August, 2013. -- A. B.

The theme of Rajpur Milan Parishad of Kumorpara Road is Baha (Tusu) festival of Purulia district. It is their 63 year's puja. "পটের পাটায় রয়েছে প্রাণ, ওই শোনা যায় বাহা গান।" Once upon a time, the inhabitants of Santhal Parganas used to take part in the Baha festival. But the province is no more. Yet the cultural tradition is there among the Santhal community. To uplift this heritage, the organizers picked up the theme of this Baha or Tusu utsav. The festival is being celebrate at the time of Poush sanktanti with the new crops. Tusu means the peel of paddy and in Santhal language it calls baha. They use to serve the new crops to their household goddess. So, the puja committee is using the gola of paddy and temple of Shiva. They use to celebrate it by heaping the crops on the chariots. So, 60-70 chariots would be there. Lighting and decorations would depict the original hues of villge festivals. -- A. B.

Theme-maker Sanatan Dinda is now creating a small piece of heaven for the silver jubilee year Durga Puja of Barisha club. And devotional songs of Lalan Fakir would be played there, like this song... "রাঙা চরণ দেখব বলে বাঞ্ছা সদাই হৃদকমলে । তোমার নামের মিঠায় মন মজেছে, রূপ কেমন তাই দেখতে চাই। জগত মুক্তিতে ভোলালেন সাঁই।" This type of songs one can hear at the puja pandal of Barisha Club. Lalan was outcasted by the then Hindu society owing to his shelter in 'Jaban's' house. But he always tried to eradicate the malpractices in the name of religion. The Theme-maker Sanatan Dinda is trying to depict this message of Lalan through the decoration in puja pandal. Debi Durga will kill the Asur in the form of warming. The gods and goddesses will celebrate the win of debi Durga over the demons. Depiction of vani of Rigveda in Sanskrit would be there on the wall of mud. On the main entrance one can see the idols of Har-Gouri in a pose of intercourse. And the idol of debi Durg...

1) Chandi Mandap of village Atpur, Hooghly; 2) Dwarika Chandi Mandap of village Haripal, Hooghly; 3) ~do~ 4) Chandi Mandap of Mahisadal Raj Bari, Purba Medinipur; 5) Ma Mangal Chandi of Kogram, Bardhaman; 6) Chandi Mandap of Mandal Family, village Harikhali, Purba Medinipur; 7) Aparajita Chandi of Baidyabati, Hooghly; 8) Temple of Malai Chandi at Amta, Howrah; 9) Devi Kokai Chandi's Than at Boral, Garia; 10) Chandi Mandap of Rai Bari at village Rajarampur of Mahisadal block, Purba Medinipur. Chandi Mandap was the heart of the village. It was associated with the zamindar family of the village. Once upon a time devi Durga was being worshiped here. Even in ancient Calcutta a few chandi mandaps were there, now either abandoned or ruined. The chandi mandap of village Atpur was established by Kandarpa Mitra, about 330 years ago, for the purpose of annual Durga puja. The premises lost its original hues by the time, but still, it is worthy to watch. Aparajita Chandi ...

'Takshak' is the theme of this year's Durga Puja of Behala Nutan Dal. The endangered species 'Takshak' is now becoming rare in this greedy world. So, the theme-maker Rono Bandyopadhyay is creating a mass awareness campaign through this theme. Value of a 3 inch long takshak is lakhs of rupees for their medicinal values. Hence, poachers are killing takshaks indiscriminately. But, the malpractice would be fatal because the species is very rare at this moment. On this context, the awareness venture of Nutan Dal is very appropriate. Sri Bandyopadhyay is creating a zamindar's family who are preserving a takshak family. For this theme, the village atmosphere is now under creation by the rural materials like hay and clay.

'Life In Stone' is the theme of this year's Durga Puja Of Naktala Udayan Sangha. Theme-maker Bhabatosh Sutar is creating the idol of devi Durga by the stone of 16 tons. But the idol would be of 10 tons of stone. He is creating the idol by monolithic method. It is very heavy. So, the idol was transferred from the workshop of Sri Sutar at Sashthir Mor of Chander Haat in south Kolkata to the puja pandal last Wednesday. It was transported by the help of a crane. Sri Sutar will complete the idol by the next 20 days. -- A. B.

Bengal United Club is busy with the creation of a new theme this year. Prashanta Paul is the theme-maker. He's making the theme of this club for four years consecutively. And this year's theme is 'decoration of chariot by the chariots'. About 5 thousand chariots would be there and of course, it would be a remarkable experience. -- A. B.

70 feet high iron tower would be the main attraction of Durga Puja Of Chetla Agrani club. The theme-maker Bhabatosh Sutar is creating this tower by the help of 10 artists of Bastar, Chattisgar, who are experts in iron. Shadows of Eiffel Tower and Monument of Kolkata would be there in this tower. The idol of goddess Durga would be made of clay and fiber and the chalchitra would be made of iron. About 50 artists are creating this for the last five months, tirelessly. -- A. B.

This is the diamond jubilee year of Badamtala Aashar Sangha. Hence, the theme-maker Sushanta Paul is creating the theme 'Pujor Swapno' or the dream of puja. In the year 2010, Sri Paul made the theme 'Parar Pujo' or the puja of us. But this year 'the dream of puja' would be a unique theme. -- A. B.