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| Prasun Banerjee, Arup Roy, June and others at the khunti puja at Chittaranjan Smriti Mandir |
Khunti pujas were the order of the day at the clubs in Howrah which gave a headstart to the Pujas which are less than two months away. Most of them organised star-studded khunti pujas, marking the beginning of work on the pandal and starting the countdown to the most-awaited festival, Durga puja.
A huge crowd had gathered at Kadamtala bus stand to see actress June, draped in a green and red Cuttack silk, the star guest at Chittaranjan Smriti Mandir’s khunti puja on August 17. The other guests present at the occasion were the head purohit of Jagannath temple in Puri, the minister for agriculture marketing, Arup Roy and Howrah MP, Prasun Banerjee. This year Chittaranjan Smriti Mandir completes 65 years of its Durga puja and like other years, the organisers are mum about their theme. “We will be designing something on discipline using geometrical shapes. The rest will be revealed closer to the time of Durga puja,” said Chandan Kanti Chakraborty, the secretary of the puja committee.
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| Local people at Salkia Alapani’s khunti puja |
Rakhi Purnima, August 10, was an auspicious occasion for the khunti puja at Salkia Alapani. Although it was not a star-studded event, the puja involved all the local people. Every one was invited to gather for the khunti puja and tree plantation ceremony at Tripura Roy Lane. This was then followed by a community lunch. It was twin occasion as the club members clubbed their theme on nature with the annual tree plantation programme on the same day. This will be the club’s 67th year of Durga puja and it has drawn up a theme based on nature.
Bolpur will come alive at the pandal this year as it will be decorated using a mix of items from Sriniketan and Santiniketan. Designs carved out of sola will be used to decorate the pandal that will have a lot of green cover to bring the effect of Bolpur. Along with that will be designs made on fabric using nakshikantha from Santiniketan. The highlights here, again, will be conservation of nature and saving trees. The budget for this year’s puja is Rs 7.5 lakhs.
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| Footballers at Sadananda Smriti Sangha’s khunti puja. Pictures by Gopal Senapati |
Sadananda Smriti Sangha in Balitikuri organised their khunti puja on July 26, two days ahead of Id-ul-Fitr. Guests included footballers Manash Bhattacharya, Bidesh Bose and Peter Odafa along with MLA Jatu Lahiri. Keeping the minority community festival in mind, new clothes, fruits and sweets were distributed among them on that day.
Conserving the environment and ecosystem is the theme for Sadananda Smriti Sangha’s 53rd Durga puja this year. The pandal will be designed by Amit Kumar Pal, a student of Government Art College. “We have thought of a theme where trees, animals, birds and insects make an appeal to human beings to save the earth. The pandal will be in the shape of a tree from which Durga will emerge. Her hands will resemble branches of the tree,” said Bibhas Deyasi, a puja committee member. Birds and animals along with aquatic animals will add to the show with light and sound effects. The budget this year is Rs 15 lakhs.
