Artists make decorative items for a Durga Puja pandal in Hirapur, Dhanbad, while another works wonders with shells in Ranchi on Sunday. (Gautam Dey, Manik Bose)

Ranchi, Sept. 13: Mysore’s Jagmohan Palace at Main Road, Thailand’s Buddhist temple in Bakri Bazaar and Bengal’s dhaner gola in Harmu.

All these and many more will make your pandal-hopping experience a cherishing one this Puja.

Going the theme way, some Puja committees in the city have roped in skilful artists from neighbouring states to do the pandals. A lot of experimentation is also being done with idols, this year.

From sea shells to red bricks, items are being imported to look and feel like the original structures. Netaji Subhas Bose Puja Committee has brought 30,000 sea shells from the shores of Digha to adorn the pandal at Kantatoli Chowk. This alone has cost them Rs 2.5 lakh, but the organisers do not mind.

“If we want to make the pandal a crowd-puller then we have to loosen our purse strings. The pandal will be adorned with the sea shells to give it an aesthetic look and the idols of Durga will be designed in true Bengali style,” said the secretary of Netaji Subhas Bose, Kumar. S. Chakarborty.

Chandrashekhar Azad Puja Committee at Main Road is planning to base their pandal on the famous Jagmohan Palace of Mysore. Ram Thakur, the in charge of the Puja committee, said: “The Jagmohan Palace in Mysore is one of the oldest monuments in Mysore constructed in 1861 built by the then King of Mysore. We wanted to build the replica of this palace in the city so that it remains in the mind of the residents for coming years.”

The design and decoration are usually done by city artists while a few are invited from Bengal. The budget of the theme Pujas is generally higher than other Pujas with cost often between Rs 9-15 lakh.

Hemendra Singh, the secretary of Satya Amar Lok, said that they are trying to build the pandal based on dhaner gola of Bengal. The pandal will be built using sponge and dry grass.

The Bharatiya Nava Yuvak Sangh Puja committee will build a 90ft Buddhist temple of Thailand.