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| The pandal of New Jalpaiguri Central Colony in Siliguri. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
From CDs to thermocol and plywood, from clay to bamboo — you name it and the goddess is in it. Or perhaps, it is the other way around: the variety in the raw material that has made idol making an art. The Telegraph has scouted around for some of the interesting pandals for its readers. Feel free to use us as your guide. Here we go, pandal hopping
Siliguri
Ujjwal Sangha
Location: Shaktigarh
USP: Thermocol and fibre net make up the pandal of the 56-year-old Durga Puja
Shaktigarh Sarbojanin
Location: Shaktigarh
USP: Around one lakh CDs have been used to make the idols and the pandal
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| The pandal of Dadabhai Sporting Club in Siliguri. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
NJP Central Colony
Location: NJP Railway Institute Ground
USP: Replica of the Sun Temple of Konarak. The pandal walls resemble the cave monuments of Ajanta and Ellora
Winners Club
Location: Lake Town
USP: Replica of a Buddhist monastery in Tibet. The pandal depicts the folk art of Bankura and Birbhum. The interior houses different sand-made statuettes
Rathkhola Sporting Club
Location: Rabindranagar
USP: The pandal is like a lotus, made of fibre and thermocol. The ekchala idols are from Calcutta Kumartuli
Jatiya Shakti Sangha
Location: Sriguru Vidyamandir Ground, Champasari
lUSP: The pandal replicates the Ellora caves with idols made of stone. A giant screen will provide information on Ellora to the visitors
JALPAIGURI
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| The idol at Muhuripara Sarbojanin in Jalpaiguri. Picture by Biplab Basak |
Tarun Dal
Location: Newtownpara
USP: In its golden jubilee year, the club has used glass to make the pandal. The idol is made of earth but has a china clay finish or kaolin, which helps retain the white colour
Muhuripara Sarbojanin
Location: Muhuripara
USP: The interiors are designed on the pat or canvas paintings of Kalighat in Calcutta
Pragati Byamagar
Location: Ashrampara
USP: Durga here resembles the rural womenfolk of Bengal. The interiors are copies of Jamini Roy pats
MALDA
Shanti Bharati Parishad
Location: Bansbari
USP: Replica of Jaisalmer Fort, one of the biggest desert forts, made famous by Satyajit Ray in the film Sonar Kella. Digital lights from Nabadwip will illuminate incidents like Cyclone Aila striking Bengal and theft of monkeys from Alipur Zoo in Calcutta
Kalyan Samiti
Location: Baluchar
USP: Designed on a temple 72ft-tall and 60ft-wide
Abhijatri Sangha
Location: Sukanta More
USP: A replica of a south Indian temple, 80ft tall. Idols made as lookalikes of Tirupati Balaji of Tirupati
COOCH BEHAR
Debibari
location: Cooch Behar Palace
USP: Barodebi, an incarnation of Devi Durga, is worshipped
The goddess here is accompanied by Jaya and Vijaya, the demigod gate keepers of Lord Vishnu’s abode
Old Post Office Para
Location: Bhawaniganj Bazar
USP: The club has built a replica of Jaipur Palace, where Gayatri Devi had lived
RAIGANJ
Sudarshanpur Sarbojanin Durgotsav
Location: Siliguri More
USP: The club has designed its pandal like the Iskcon temple of Mayapur.
Lights are from Chandernagore
Dehashri Byamagar
Location: Rabindrapally
USP: The pandal is a Buddhist gumpha of the Darjeeling hills. Lights are from Chandernagore
BALURGHAT
Abhijatri Club
Location: Collegepara
USP: In their 46th year, the club has designed the pandal on a Birla temple in Rajasthan.
Intricate works of terracotta, plywood and thermocol adorns the interior with Ajanta-like idols.
