The under-construction Durga Puja pandal at Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: Innovative themes are set to welcome devotees at prominent Durga Puja pandals in the city.
Nayapalli Durga Puja Samiti is erecting a replica of the majestic Lakshmi Vilas Palace of Vadodara in Gujarat.
While the frontal facade of the pandal resembling the palace will be 279ft high, it will be 394ft wide. Bengal-based artisan Babul Saha and his team of 50 assistants are building it.
The 18ft idol of goddess Durga is being crafted by Shakti Prasad, also from Bengal.
The culture of Odisha will be highlighted inside the pandal where the Jagannath temple, Konark temple and a statue of lord Jagannath will be exhibited among other things.
A number of groups will take part in the Ramleela competition that will be held from Sasthi to Navami. The celebrations will come to an end with the burning of an 80ft effigy of demon king Ravan.
The samiti has decided to make a large donation for treatment of the Kandhamal conjoined twins, who are undergoing surgery at AIIMS, New Delhi.
The pandal of Saheed Nagar Durga Puja committee will resemble that of a Buddha temple at Thailand. As many as 40 artists from Calcutta are working on the pandal under the guidance of Asim Maity.
'The pandal will be 120ft wide and it will be 70ft high. Every year we try to do new things so that visitors get to see something different,' said secretary of the committee Narayan Mohapatra.
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has made a special budget of Rs 5 lakh for repairing potholes and roads in various wards of the city ahead of Durga Puja.
A special drive will be carried out for repairing street lights and maintaining cleanliness in each ward.
Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said: 'We have instructed officials in charge of electrical section of the corporation to expedite the work. I have also asked the environment engineers to take steps for cutting branches of trees that are covering the street lights.'
The civic body will also writing to the public works department to clear the debris of the portion of the flyover that had collapsed in Bomikhal on September 10.
