News Analysis India

Tag: Durga Pujo

  • ‘Hope world will know Kumartuli now’: Pandemic-hit artisans welcome UNESCO tag for Durga Puja

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Idol-makers in Kumartuli, the clay-modellers’ hub in north Kolkata, hope for a revamp of infrastructure, civic amenities and working conditions in their locality after UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) status to the city’s Durga Puja celebrations.

    UNESCO on Wednesday accorded ICH status to Kolkata’s Durga Puja, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lauding the move.

    Noted artisan Mintu Pal hoped that both the central and state governments will look into the issue of an overhaul of 300-year-old Kumartuli’s infrastructure.

    “The overall infrastructure in Kumartuli, which has narrow lanes skirting cramped studios, must be overhauled. The working conditions of the artisans must be improved. We face a huge challenge during rain in finishing our work and shielding our idols in the water-logged streets. These issues must be looked into.”

    “Though we have been shipping idols across the globe, only the Bengali diaspora knew us. With the UNESCO tag, we hope people around the world will know Kumartuli,” Pal told PTI.

    Kartik Paul, spokesperson of Kumartuli Mritshilpi Samity, an association of clay-modellers of the area, said, “Till now, journalists and shutterbugs used to come to the locality during the making of the idols. But with this development, organised branding is required. We will soon organise an event announcing the future roadmap for it.”

    Sculptor Bhabatosh Sutar, who is associated with award-winning Durga Puja committee Naktala Udayan Sangha, said that with the UNESCO tag, the festivities will be much more structured from now on.

    “Durga Puja celebration was more localised, but hopefully, now it will more organised and structured,” he said.

    “Durga Puja in Kolkata has just been inscribed on the intangible heritage list. Congratulations India,” UNESCO has tweeted.

    TMC Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar said that UNESCO permits only three-four such ‘inscriptions’ of ICH every year.

    “Durga Puja is the largest public festivity in India comparable only to Mumbai’s Ganpati. But while the latter has received so much publicity through Bollywood, Durga Puja has not. Hence any positive recognition of the festival will encourage clay-modellers, Patua artisans, decorators and lighting experts,” Sircar, a former CEO of Prasar Bharati who is involved in the art-restoration movement in the city, said.

    The state Information and Cultural Affairs Department said that Durga Puja is the first festival in Asia to get such recognition from UNESCO.

    “It is a red-letter day for us. In the real sense, West Bengal is now Biswa Bangla. Our congratulations to the people the state, the country and the world. We convey our thanks and gratitude to UNESCO for the recognition bestowed on this great festival,” the department said in a statement.

  • Wear masks, keep COVID at bay while pandal hopping: Mamata urges people

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Emphasising the necessity of wearing face masks to keep the spread of COVID-19 in check, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday urged everyone to be careful while pandal hopping as the pandemic is still around.

    The chief minister appealed to people while inaugurating two Durga Puja pandals in south Kolkata on Wednesday.

    “I request people visiting the pandals during the festival to wear masks even if they are fully vaccinated. Some people are testing positive for COVID-19, even after being administered both doses of the vaccine,” she said while inaugurating the Naktala Udayan Sangha puja pandal.

    At the Salimpur Pally puja inauguration, the chief minister asked the organisers to keep sufficient masks at their disposal for distributing them among visitors who come without them.

    Banerjee chanted ‘shlokas’ to pay obeisance to the goddess and uttered ‘Jai Bangla’ while concluding her speech.

    Amid the beats of dhak, a traditional instrument played during Durga puja festivities, Banerjee drew the eyes of the deity, a ritual known as ‘chokhudaan’, at Chetla Agrani puja patronised by her cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim.

    She also urged people to be on guard as the rainy season triggers an outbreak of dengue.

    The chief minister, on a Durga puja inauguration spree from ‘Mahalaya’ marking the beginning of ‘Devi Paksha’, unveiled the pandals at Jodhpur Park, 95 Pally, and Babubagan in south Kolkata.

  • Bengal extends Covid curbs till October 30; allows movement of people at night during Durga Puja

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Thursday extended the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions till October 30 but allowed movement of people and vehicles at night during the Durga Puja festival from October 10-20, according to an order.

    Durga Puja will be celebrated from October 10 to 15, while Lakshmi Puja will be held on October 20.

    The government has made an exception in the night curfew rule in view of the festival as a large number of people visit puja pandals at night in Kolkata and elsewhere.

    “In continuation of the earlier order, restriction and relaxation measures as already in force stand extended up to October 30. In view of the ensuing festive period the said restriction relating to movement of people and vehicles between 11 pm to 5 am is relaxed during October 10 to 20,” the order read.

    The government, however, has decided not to allow local trains to run, though Metro Railway trains would continue to be operational.

    The order shall come into effect from October 1.

  • Will abide by all health protocols, shun pomp this Durga puja, say organisers

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Three days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked Durga puja organisers to make preparations for small-scale celebrations this year, ‘Forum for Durgotsab’ — a platform for community puja organisers — said it would abide by all health protocols and ensure that people don’t crowd at marquees.

    Much like last year, members of the forum have decided to set up open-air marquees, giving people an opportunity to see the idols of deities from a distance, Somnath Das, an office-bearer of the platform, said.

    “Our preparations are going on in full swing. People in this city would have felt disheartened had there been no celebration. All puja committee members have decided to shun pomp and show. They will, however, make an aesthetic presentation, in line with our culture and tradition,” he said.

    Soumen Dutta of Kasi Bose Lane committee, a big-ticket puja in the city, said the CM’s assurance has come across as a major relief as the organisers were in two minds about going ahead with the preparations.

    Das, who is also the general secretary of Santoshpur Lake Pally, said organisers have adopted ‘paribar’ (family) theme to give locals a homely feeling.

    He thanked the Mamata Banerjee government for the Rs 50,000 dole for puja committees, which he said would be spent on buying masks and sanitisers for the poor in the locality.