Giridih, Oct. 19: For the past 125 years the Shri Shri Aadi Durga Mandap has organised Durga Puja and even today the centrally located pandal on CMR Road is a top draw among devotees.

For many, their bond with the mandap could be traced down many generations.

“The first Puja was organised in 1882. Our forefather Pramanand Sao, who was hoping to have a child, placed the statue of Durga on the recommendation of priest Sheetal Pandit,” recalled Rajendra Gupta, the president of the committee. “That very year his wife gave birth to a girl who was named after the goddess herself. Since then, Durga Puja is being celebrated here”

Earlier, the Puja was celebrated in a small way and the function took place in a hut but with time the mandap grew in popularity and all the big names, including the Chand Mal Rajgaria and his family, became associated with the Puja.

Though decades have passed but the shape of the mandap and the idol of Durga have remained unchanged.

“Though we have renovated and changed some other important elements but nothing has been done to the arrangement of the mandap and also the material used to construct the idol of Durga,” he said.

But it is not that they didn’t wish to bring about any change. “Whenever we wanted to make any change, some untoward incidents happened and then we dropped the idea,” he adds.

Gupta also said that before the immersion, people make handsome contributions to the Goddess.