The idol at SE Railway Traffic Colony Durga, Laxmi and Kali Puja Committee pandal on Monday. Picture by Animesh Sengupta

Pandal-hoppers at Traffic Colony, Bagbera, may be struck by its simplicity but not know its history. For, this traditional Puja is Jamshedpur’s oldest, founded in 1906, a year older than Tata Steel itself.

Called the SE Railway Traffic Colony Durga, Laxmi and Kali Puja Committee, this year it will celebrate its 109th edition.

The then stationmaster of Kalimati (renamed Tatanagar later), Dilip Sengupta, started this tradition way back in 1906.

At that time, a few more railway employees supported Sengupta. In 1913, the Puja became sarvajanik or community festival when organisers started collecting chanda or donations. In 1919, after Railway Traffic Colony was set up, more people joined in.

“This is the city’s oldest puja but very few know the fact because we never show off. We are railway staffers and our resources are limited. All we collect is nominal chanda from 400 families in the area,” said Om Prakash, a railway employee and one of the organisers of the Puja at Railway Traffic Colony.

SE Railway Traffic Colony manages with a minimum budget of Rs 3 lakh, which also includes Laxmi Puja and Kali Puja.

“Ninety per cent of the people are railway staff. This puja is our heritage. Even the priest comes from Chandrakana Road in Midnapore. He’s a third-generation priest whose father and grandfather have come here,” said Madan Pandey, Puja Committee secretary.

Since 1906 to now, the culture of sarvajanik or community Puja has only grown bigger.

Even now, many elderly citizens in Jamshedpur feel that Tata Steel, which started giving its profit-sharing bonus in 1934, had timed it before the festival to enable employees, many of whom had formed Puja committees between 1919 and 1924, enjoy it properly.

A Tata Steel official said it was an interesting conjecture.

“Whether the timing of the bonus was to help people spend more during Durga Puja is really not known. It’ll be interesting to find out,” he said.