Ranchi, Nov. 16: After a fire burnt down the New Kali Puja Committee pandal in Doranda yesterday, residents began a second Kali puja today.

People from all communities, under the aegis of New Kali Puja Committee, today set up a new deity near the burnt venue and constructed a cordon around it.

The site was purified with cow dung and the rituals performed under the guidance of Pandit Anadi Mukherjee.

The residents brought burnt idol of goddess Kali, covered it with a red cloth and put it inside a makeshift chamber.

Jagdish Chandra Pal, an artist associated with Veena Pani Club, provided residents a spare idol to perform Puja at midnight. Youths of the area cleaned debris around the four walls.

Sanjay Ghosh, a resident of the area, said fruits were offered to please the goddess. ?Bhathua, sugarcane and cucumber were offered,? he added.

Subir Gope, a member of the puja committee, said the puja will end with the immersion of both idols on Wednesday.

?The rituals, started this morning, will end tomorrow when we immerse both old and new idols of Kali in a pond nearby. By performing rituals, we are trying to please the goddess who, we believe, must be unhappy with the accident yesterday,? he added.

The New Kali Puja Committee has been organising pujas since 1982. A fire, sparked by a short circuit, had gutted the pandal and the idol inside yesterday.