8 months ago
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A slew of Durga Puja pandals successful Kolkata this twelvemonth have, successful their themes, evoked imagery from pre-independence Bengal and the Partition, and highlighted the past of state fighters particularly from undivided Bengal, successful an astir museum-like pandal experience.
Durga Pujas located successful antithetic parts of the metropolis similar Suruchi Sangha successful Kolkata’s New Alipore, Hatibagan Nabin Pally successful Hatibagan, and Samaj Sebi Sangha successful Lake View Road, person explored specified themes.
Notably, the past of pre-partition Bengal was revived successful the nationalist consciousness and discourse, either done controversies surrounding the depiction of the Calcutta riots of 1946 successful the movie ‘The Bengal Files’, oregon with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee highlighting the relation of Bengal successful India’s independence, as portion of Trinamool’s ‘Bangali asmita’ (Bengali pride) canvass plank for the 2026 Assembly elections.
The taxable of the celebrated Samaj Sebi Sangha Durga Puja, located connected Lake View Road successful South Kolkata, evokes imagery of the harmony that existed amidst the wide communal strife of 1946, particularly successful the precise neighbourhood it is situated in.
“Like galore different parts of Kolkata, Lake View Road excessively was witnesser to communal riots successful 1945/46. Samaj Sebi arsenic a assemblage nine was calved astir that time, with the ngo to organise Durga Puja arsenic a mode to bring radical unneurotic contempt the violence. In our theme, we reimagined the Lake View Road of 1946 wherever residents were agreed against communal rivalry and joined hands to pb rescue efforts,” the creator down the Durga Puja, Pradip Das told The Hindu.
Samaj Sebi’s Durga Puja pandal, done its art, has reimagined the Lake View Road neighbourhood of 1946 — with its houses and streets — alongside pages from newspapers depicting communal violence, deaths, and loot. Bust sculptures of renowned residents similar Leela Roy, Meghnad Saha and Jadunath Sarkar, are featured successful the pandal.
According to organisers, Leela Roy, the laminitis of Samaj Sebi Sangha was known to person worked alongside state fighters of the clip and would question with a motortruck to transportation retired rescue operations for radical of each faiths.
“We kept azaan arsenic the audio playing wrong this pandal to further thrust location the conception of communal harmony successful this neighbourhood. These are concepts we tin lone research successful a metropolis similar Kolkata,” Mr. Das said.
Suruchi Sangha, a fashionable Durga Puja successful South Kolkata which draws respective lakh visitors everyday, based their taxable this twelvemonth connected Anushilan Samity, a concealed nine of revolutionaries successful 20th period Bengal moving to bring an extremity to British assemblage rule.
The Suruchi Sangha pandal features respective murals depicting state fighters and scenes from the state movement, on with substance snippets successful Bangla highlighting important points from that timeline. Walkthroughs successful the pandal are lined with bust sculptures of state fighters. Upon entering, visitors witnesser a lifelike sculpture of state combatant Khudiram Bose, with a rendition of the precocious tribunal bid spelling retired his decease sentence.
“Anushilan Samity was 1 of the archetypal revolutionary groups to commencement equipped absorption successful pre-independence Bengal. While we cognize the celebrated state fighters who were portion of it, similar Khudiram Bose, Pritilata Waddedar, Prafulla Chaki and others, Anushilan Samity arsenic a corporate does not person the spotlight that it should, successful the pages of history. Hence, this is our effort to recreate moments from that constituent successful clip and assistance radical cognize much astir it,” said Souvik Ray, 1 of the organisers of the Durga Puja.
He added that the murals depicting scenes from the convulsive assemblage regularisation of the British and substance snippets from past were created by scraping disconnected plaster of paris.
“The full pandal was envisaged arsenic a prison. Alongside the murals we besides person a conception connected the idiosyncratic histories of the revolutionaries of Anushilan Samity,” helium said.
Meanwhile, Hatibagan Nabinpally, located successful the salient Hatibagan country of northbound Kolkata, based their pandal and idol connected the taxable ‘Amar Desh Amar Durga’ (my country, by Durga), placing the goddess successful the discourse of the Quit India question and putting up murals and artwork connected pistillate state fighters from crossed the country.
In this puja, the idol of Goddess Durga stands against the backdrop of the Indian flag. According to organiser Tarna Dutta Chowdhury, the idol was designed successful the Midnapore patachitra style, whereas demon king Mahisasura was created successful a Western creator style.
“When radical sojourn our pandal, they volition get a heavy dive into the women who fought successful the Quit India movement, including not conscionable celebrated state fighters similar Matangini Hazra but besides immoderate of the young pistillate martyrs similar Kanaklata Baruah of Assam who was 17, and Tileswari Baruah who was 12 erstwhile she died. Our pandal has been designed with murals and substance snippets astir these women, galore of whom are lesser known,” Ms. Chowdhury said.
