An artisan works on the Puja pandal in Bhootnath. Picture by UB Photos

Sept. 27: Artisans are cooking up a 40-foot pandal, intricately designed and decorated with green chillies, pulses and mustard.

The artisans are using these kitchen-shelf ingredients this year to give an artistic look to the pandal being built by Bhootnath Durga Puja Committee, which had constructed a Buddhist temple-shaped pandal last year.

This year, the committee’s theme is Anokha, virat and bhavya (unique, big and grand).

“It is our effort to add glamour to the event. This year, too, we have come up with a new concept to make this Puja unique for the citizens of Guwahati by making it anokha, virat and bhavya. The unique design of the pandal will definitely attract pandal-hoppers,” Amit Dhirasaria, a member of the Puja committee, said.

“Over the past few years, the number of pandals has increased in the city. It is our earnest effort to celebrate the Puja in a grand way and to decorate the pandal in an artistic and innovative way like they do in Calcutta. We have got experienced craftsmen from Calcutta and Chennai to decorate the pandal,” he added.

Mantu Das, an artisan from Calcutta, said, “Altogether 20 artisans are decorating this pandal. It is very tedious and time-consuming to decorate a pandal with mustard seeds and masoor dal as these are very small. We are likely to complete it by the end of this month.”

Said Dhansaria, “Last year, our pandal was a replica of a Buddhist temple. We received good response and this inspired us to come up with a new design this year as well.”

The pandal’s brightly illuminated gate will depict cultivation. An additional attraction will be the light and sound show to depict Durga killing Mahishasur.

The estimated budget of the Puja committee is around Rs 8 lakh.

“It is sad that the Bhootnath area is not very developed like other areas of the city, as a result of which the residents suffer from several civic problems. We hope this Puja we will be able to attract more visitors and draw the administration’s attention towards its development,” Dhirasaria said.