Calcutta ,Oct. 23 :    Calcutta ,Oct. 23:  Riding on the recent crest, Bengali songs have managed to break fresh barriers this Pujas, scaling a new high in popularity. Sales figures of Bengali music, in both cassettes and CDs, have doubled, compared to last year's Pujas at MusicWorld, the city's leading music store. According to data released by the store, recently voted the number one outlet of the retail chain, sale of Bengali music during Debipaksha, the week leading up to the Pujas, accounted for 42 per cent of the total sales, as against the normal average of 21 per cent. Another clinching piece of statistic is that last Saturday, Bengali music tripped Hindi in sales at MusicWorld. 'This is quite a unique phenomenon and is fresh indicator to the continuing upswing in the demand for Bengali music which has been growing steadily of late,' says Dipra Jha, storehead and area manager, operations, MusicWorld. Smashing all previous marks, sale of Bengali music cassettes grew more than 51 per cent in the week October 15-21, while in CDs, the growth was an even more encouraging 121 per cent. The trend this year is predominantly towards new songs as opposed to remakes that ruled the charts last Pujas. A clutch of young, home-grown artistes like Indranil, Srikanta, Lopamudra, Sreya, besides folk, rock and pop bands like Bhoomi, Paras Pathar, Cactus and Chandrabindoo, have been able to create a new, captive clientele, holding their own against the golden oldies and giving Bangla gaan a shoal of hits this festive season. 'There have been very few enquires about Mumbai artistes like Udit Narayan or Kumar Shanu this Pujas and people have embraced city singers wholeheartedly instead, which augurs well for the local labels,' says a senior industry-watcher. This year, music companies have hit the market with fewer releases, but come up with more winners. 'This clearly shows, quality, rather than quantity, succeeds,' says Debraj Dutta, merchandiser, MusicWorld. In the maze of new releases, one old fave which has created fresh ripples, is Mahisasuramardini, Birendra Krishna Bhadra's evergreen rendition of the Chandi. The cassette has sold 43 per cent more this year, compared to the corresponding week last year. 'Perhaps, the fact that there was a five-week gap between Mahalaya and the Pujas, prompted people to go for the tape, so that they could listen to the chants at leisure. Besides, it being a religious product, has now started cutting across language barriers and a lot of non-Bengalis have also bought Mahisasuramardini this time,' observes Jha. The unusual interest in the product even saw HMV run out of stocks. During Debipaksha, the only serious competition to the Bengali bandwagon has come from Bollywood. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Karan Johar's superstar-cast musical by Sony Music, which had first tested waters with a singles release, has swept the Hindi soundtrack charts, logging whopping sales of 1,339 cassettes from MusicWorld alone in the first week of release.