Cuttack, Oct. 8: The Ganesh Ghat puja committee has joined elite company after unveiling a silver filigree backdrop for its Panchamukhi Mahadev that cost Rs 70 lakh.

Around 65 of the city's 150 Puja mandaps see idols of Mahadev worshipped alongside Durga every year. But the 21-year-old Ganesh Ghat puja committee is the only one where an idol of the Panchamukhi Mahadev finds place during Durga Puja celebrations.

"We used around 120kg of silver to mould the chandi medha backdrop," said Ganeshghat Maa Mangala Puja Committee president Jagannath Sahu.

The Panchamukhi incarnation of Shiv represents the lord's five aspects - Aghora (destructive), Ishana (all-pervading), Tatpurusha (symbol of celibacy), Vamadeva (female) and Rudra (wrath and anger).

"Panchamukhi is the combination of all the five forms and is depicted as a five-headed Biswarupa of Mahadev," Sahu said.

"What makes our chandi medha unique is the use of serpent motif in the form of the hoods of 15 snakes," said master artisan Nirakar Das.

The number of Puja committees using silver filigree backdrops to decorate their idols is going up every year, with the addition of Ganesh Ghat taking the tally to 23.

The Choudhury Bazaar Puja Mandap first introduced the tradition with a 250kg chandi medha in 1956. <>The Sheikh Bazar Puja Mandap joined the party with a 350kg silver filigree backdrop in 1991.

during the festive period#Keen competition over the "best show" had since apparently pushed Puja Committees in Chandini Chowk, Alisha Bazar, Chauliaganj, Badambadi, Kazi Bazar, Balu Bazar, Tulasipur-Bauri Sahi, Nayasarak, Machua Bazar, Firingi Bazar, Badambadi, Sikharpur areas to embrace giant filigree backdrops made entirely in silver, one after the other - Pithapur, Khatbin Sahi, Manglabag and Budhithakurani last year.

In 2004, Ranihat joined the elite group with a 483 kg of silver filigree backdrop, jewelleries and weaponry.

Since 2005 Haripur-Dolamundai Puja Committee boasts of the heaviest and biggest Chandi Medha in terms of weight (500 kg) and size (15.5 ft width and 25 ft height).

In 2006, the Sheikh Bazar Puja Committee remodelled a new backdrop using 450 kg of silver.

Kathagada Sahi became another player in the Durga puja war of fame when it came up with a 350 kg silver filigree backdrop in 2008.

Khannagar puja committee brags of having since 2011 the only Chandi Medha in the city which can be assembled into varied designs for different occasions.

"For Durga puja the backdrop has sets of swan merging into one another. But during Kali puja the swans can be made to follow each other in a row", said puja committee secretary Prafulla Kumar Sahu.