Salt Lake Maitri Sangha
Location: Fish pond outside the swimming and BF Park
Year: 29th
Budget: Rs 25 lakh
The look: A mandap will be shaped like the thakur dalan of a zamindar house. The idol will be Shyama Kali.
Fun funda: The puja will be inaugurated on Friday by Rajesh daitapati from Jagannath Temple, Puri in presence of actress Tabu. Cheques will be handed over the families of the martyred soldiers at Uri. There will be a big fireworks display. Zee Bangla Sa Re Ga Ma Pa artistes Aditi Munshi and Rishi Chakraborty will also perform. On Sunday. there will be Mata ka jagran. On Monday, singer Pratik Chowdhury will perform. On Tuesday, Usha Uthup will take stage. Wednesday’s show will start with Sanjay Mondal’s band, of India's Got Talent fame, which will present music using waste materials. Actor Prosenjit will make an appearance. The final act will be the Bollywood composer trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
Balaka Sports Club
Location: BD Park
Year: 44th
Budget: Rs 10 lakh
The look: The pandal is shaped like a temple and idol will be Shyama Kali adorned by jewellery offered by devotees.
Fun funda: Sujit Bose and actress Payel Sarkar will inaugurate the puja on Firday. Singer Supratik Das and fusion Sufi band Humsufi will take stage thereafter. On Saturday, the puja will be telecast live on the internet and on Sunday singer Subhomita, Shatarup Ghosh and Indian Idol singer Rupa Basu will take stage. On Monday singers from Zee Bangla Sa Re Ga Ma Pa will perform and then around midnight, members will head out for immersion. The pandal and surroundings will be Wi-Fi enabled.
Salt Lake AC Block Yubak Sangha
Location: AC Block community hall
Year: 36th (The organisers are not counting last year's controversial edition with which they were not associated)
Budget: Rs 5 lakh
The look: The façade draws elements from tribal life like spears and .
Fun funda: Musical programme by Iman Chakraborty of Tumi jake bhalobasho (Praktan) fame on Friday. A sit and draw contest has been organised for children in three age groups till the age of 12 at 10am on Sunday. On Monday, the band Fakira takes sage followed by Subham Banerjee and Dia Roy Choudhury from Zee Bangla’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.
BK Block Youth Forum
Location: BK Park
Year: 14th
Budget: Rs 5 lakh
The look: Scrapped tin cans of various sizes, which contained a variety of products from baby food to oil, have been used to decorate the pandal. They have been perforated in shapes of auspicious symbols like Om, swastika and the sun and lights and lights have been placed inside them. A 6ft Shiva, made of fibre, sits in meditation in front of the pandal.
Fun funda: The opening of the puja is on Friday at 7pm after which Ethnic Dance Group takes the stage. Monomoy Bhattacharya is scheduled to perform at 8.30pm. A tribal dance to the beat of dhamsa madol takes place on Saturday. On Sunday, community lunch will be served to residents.
BL
Location: BL Park
Year: 25th
Budget: Rs 15 lakh
The look: Art director and resident Tanmoy Chakraborty is spearheading the pandal that replicate China’s Terracotta Army.
This is a collection of over 8,000 sculptures built in the third century BC so they would look like real soldiers from afar and scare away enemies. The BL Block pandal is making around 100 soldiers, 1.5-ft under the ground and 6.5-ft above the ground. One would have to reach the idol after crossing this army.
Fun funda: The puja would be inaugurated on Friday with a dance item by residents and a performance by singer Jayati Chakraborty. On Saturday from 10am, there would be a gaming contest — Fifa and NFS. From 4pm a treasure hunt and quiz would take place followed by an antakshari that would have live musicians. The contests are open to all and would have spot registration. On Sunday evening the Anupam Roy Band and Rupankar would perform.
Nayapatty Aditya Smriti Sangha
Location: While approaching New Town from Salt Lake, take the lane beside Azad Hind Dhaba opposite Technopolis. Drive straight and the turn right from the T-junction. After travelling for around 30 metres, the puja will be on the left.
Year: 24th
Budget: Rs 3 lakh
The look: Nayan Metya’s pandal, brought from a Durga puja in Memari, Burdwan, is a tribute in jute to eight freedom-fighters, from Laxmi Bai of Jhansi to Kshudiram Bose to Bhagat Singh. The idol is of jute too. A gigantic Bharat Mata figure occupies the facade.
Pragati Sangha
Location: After crossing City Centre II, drive till a four-point crossing called Chinar Park. Turn right towards Rajarhat from the crossing. At Bablatala, on Rajarhat Road, turn left. The puja is held on Sourav Ganguly Avenue, Narayanpur.
Year: 48th
Budget: Rs 12 lakh
The look: An imaginary temnple has been created using items of worship in thermocol as decoration like bells, lamps, conch shells etc. The idol has a stylised look in keeping with the theme.
Fun funda: A two-minute laser show will be beamed over a waterbody across the road which will show the transformation in Ma Kali’s aspect, from peaceful to terrible. There will be accompanying sound effects like storm, lightning, and ringing of bells.
Rabindra Sangha
Location: Up the road from Pragati Sangha
Year: 3rd
Budget: Rs 5 lakh
The look: The puja protests against female foeticide. So there are figures of pregnant women with a blood-stained womb amid representations in relief of accomplished women from Kalpana Chawla to Suchitra Sen, Lata Mangeshkar to P.V. Sindhu. There is also one of Mamata Banerjee right by the entrance. A child begs for her life to Kali to the idol’s left while another girl has been put on the scaffold to her right.
Fun funda: A short video of female foeticide will be screened in the pandal complex.
Narkelbagan Shakti Sangha
Location: Further ahead on the road from Pragati Sangha.
Year: 48th
Budget: Rs 15 lakh
The look: The pandal is a replica of Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.
Naojawan Sangha, Gopalpur
Location: Down a lane adjacent to a park near Pragati Sangha
Year: 38th
Budget: Rs 20 lakh
The look: The facade of the pandal resembles peacock plumage. The main items used to depict communal harmony are strings and colourful paper. A Dol celebration featuring Radha Krishna is depicted on a revolving table at the centre.
Diwali Mahotsav 2016
Where: Bidhannagar Mela Ground
Organised by: Marwari Sanskriti Manch
When: October 29, 7.30pm
What: A 24ft idol of Laxmi will be flanked by 12ft idols of Ganesh and Saraswati, created by Naba Pal. A total of 1,100 women with perform arati while petals will be showered from above. This will be followed by a 30-minute fireworks show.
The Telegraph Salt Lake
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