Unique themes for Durga puja pandals

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With Durga puja just this weekend away, colourful pandals and parikramas have begun to adorn various corners of the city. From ancient caves to historic temples, the pandals are celebrating the festival with unique themes.
The D Block Janakpuri Puja committee is following the ‘tant’ theme. The brainchild of city-based artists Camellia Suman and Biswajit Das, the initiative is to revive the lost charm of old Bengali handloom of tant and make it popular among the young generation. “The traditional cotton handloom was majorly worn as saris but somehow it’s losing its significance. So, besides Goddess Durga wearing a tant sari, the pandal decorations, chandeliers and also the invites are made of tant. We have weavers (tanti) from West Bengal here. This will help promote their art as well,” says Camellia.
While the Greater Kailash samiti has Lutyen’s Delhi as its theme to celebrate the 100th year of Delhi as the national capital, the Kashmere Gate Puja Committee will be decorating the pandal as a grand temple of the Goddess.
Traditionally the hub of Durga puja celebrations in the capital, CR Park boasts of interesting themes and ideas. The Corporative Society plans a cave-style pandal to promote eco-friendly environment. “It will look like caves in the old times. There will small devi-devtas with waterfall, trees and sound effects of nature. Everything will be made in plaster of paris to promote pollution-free environment,” explains Satiakam Mukherjee, president, Corporative Society.
Organisers of the Shiv Mandir puja have come up with a novel idea. They are setting up a combusting machine to produce fertiliser manure out of leftover puja flowers. “During puja, heaps of flowers are collected daily, we thought of making good use of them. This machine will grind these used flowers with chemical, converting it into manure for gardening purposes. We will sell it for `2 per kg.”
The Mela Ground at CR Park is opting for Madhubani theme and beautifying the pandal with Madhubani patterns. B-Block pandal has been designed like an ancient mandir in rural Bengal. The committee has constructed a banyan tree that appears to have its branches grow right through the temple. Arun Saddy, a puja committee member, explains, “The reception area will be like a thatched hut. We have created sparrows, woodpecker’s nest and beehives and lamps with bamboo shades to give the old mandir look.”
Many puja committees have planned theme-based celebrations. While Pocket 40 celebrates 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore with recitation of his poems throughout the puja, Noida Kali Bari puja committee, Sector 26, are celebrating the emancipation of women in past few decades through cultural programmes. Besides that, East-End Apartment Puja society sticks to the traditional art of pratima designing.
And if it’s the capital, can politics not make its presence felt? The Noida Sector 71 pandal has been designed like the Lok Sabha!