Time was when Bengali songs played at every puja pandal and were on the lips of young people in the city. The music of yesteryear will return to Purba Putiari Pragati Sangha in Kudghat this year as the puja pays tribute to singing legends Sandhya Mukherjee and Nirmala Mishra.
Mishra passed away on Saturday night after a heart attack, while Sandhya Mukherjee passed away in February this year.
The south Kolkata-based puja committee has already started collecting old records from shops Chandni Chowk, Kidderpore and Jadavpur to decorate the pandal.
“On hearing the news of Nirmala Mishra’s death, we decided to decorate the pandal with her photos and paintings as well,” said Pijush Saha, secretary of Purba Putiari Pragati Sangha.
Portraits of singers are being drawn on the records. “Nirmala Mishra and Sandhya Mukherjee will hold a special place in the pandal. Our main entrance will be decorated with records with the singers’ portraits on them,” said theme artist Bibhash Mukherjee.
Saha said it was very difficult to collect old Bengali songs. “We’re not recording a theme song this year and instead plan to play the popular Puja releases by Pankaj Kumar Mullick, Sandhya Mukherjee and Kanan Devi from the golden era of Bengali music. We have even approached Akashvani Bhawan for these songs,” Saha said.
