CM Das, one of the patrons of the Puja committee, will inaugurate Agrico’s tribute to the Temple of Juno on Mahasashthi.

The 17ft clay idol of Durga is being made by sculptor Jiten Pradhan of Belda (near Kharagpur in Bengal). “It will also be a feast for the eyes. The clay being used has been procured from the banks of Ganga (in Bengal),” Singh said.

An added attraction will be an exhibition-cum-fair by Fun World Company on the six-acre Agrico Ground near the pandal. “There will be over 10 types of swings, a giant wheel and an array of shops. Pandal-hoppers can eat, ride and indulge in daylong adda,” said Singh.

The committee’s illumination budget alone is around Rs 1.5 lakh. “City-based electricians are working 24/7 to install LEDs and others lights inside and outside the pandal,” a member said.

Last year, the Agrico pandal had had a footfall of a lakh daily. The organisers are sanguine that the Juno temple will be a bigger draw.

The upcoming Agrico pandal inspired by it on Friday Picture by Bhola Prasad

An ancient Roman shrine, built around 344 BC, will greet devotees at Agrico Durga Puja near the chief minister’s residence this time.

The Temple of Juno that once stood on Capitoline Hill has inspired the 75-feet-tall pandal. Owing to lack of last vestiges and scarce information, the original temple is considered to be an enigma in the topography of ancient Rome. Hence, Puja organisers are banking on a model of Juno’s temple built during the 2012 Burning Man Festival in Nevada, US.

The Durga Puja, which has turned 70, has hired over 50 artisans from Contai in Bengal’s East Midnapore district for the tall task. Benevolent use of bamboo, cotton nets and filigree is being made for the pandal, which is barely 100 metres from the city camp office of Raghubar Das.

“We have hired a decorator from Contai who has been working since September. The over 75ft pandal will attract thousands of people with sheer grandeur,” said Bhupender Singh, the general secretary of the Puja committee, adding that the cost of the project was around Rs 11 lakh.

Juno was a Roman goddess who had many roles and epithets; among those that she held were as a fertility deity and overseer of childbirth, a protector of women and the community and a preserver of marriages.

The Burning Man Festival, on the other hand, is an annual, nine-day gathering in the Nevada desert. It includes artistic performances, installations, music, and a lot of partying.