A surprise venue for puja this year is the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in New Town, and true to tradition, the theme is startups and innovation.
Located near Uniworld City, the pandal is decorated with live plants, birds and fish in little pools. But what really makes this pandal unique is the startups that have set up shop around the mandap, networking with visitors.
“Of all the pujas I have attended, this has the most unique theme. It will encourage our youth into entrepreneurship and turn them into job creators rather than seekers,” said Union minister of state for education, Sukanta Majumdar.
IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty said they were calling their mandap a Museum of the Future because of the promise it holds. “Bengalis love culture and the puja is a creative way to introduce entrepreneurship into their psyche,” he said. “We want to invite startups to come forward and collaborate with us for research and mentorship.”
The puja has been organised and built by artisans of KarmYog for 21st Century foundation, whose founder Sourabh J. Sarkar is an IIT alumnus and now resident of Uniworld City. “This puja is the union of science and religion,” he said, also using the puja as a platform to announce JVL (Jay Vijay League), which they are organising in partnership with IIT Kharagpur.
“Like the IPL, this will have 10 teams comprising 10 startups chosen from across the country. Entrepreneurs have to fight lonely battles but here there will be an entire ecosystem helping them. The owner of the winning team will win prize money and the startups will get investment money,” said Sarkar. The Durga idol will be immersed after the Pujas, but the Museum of the Future mandap will host the finals of this competition around Diwali.