This Prism !: DURGA PUJA/2011 IN CALCUTTA

Two Pujas which must be chronicled in history of

Bengal's installation art

& a few others

I have noted one phenomenon in blogspot - I get regular hits on my very 1st blog on DURGA PUJA, which was published years ago while the latest blog on the same subject , incorporating 2011 Puja photos attract far less nos of hits !
Aisa kiun ? Aisa kiun ?? Aisa kiun ???

Behala Aikya Sammilani

Nevertheless, I continue my work of sharing photos from my HDD with my friends . My wife and I enjoy visiting Puja pandals selectively - had we been younger, we could have moved around in the night. Here we have been around locally - only at Parnasree and around. Clicking photos of decorated pandals in the evenings is a pleasure - more so for us, because, we have fewer choices as we do not venture outside our area in the throbbing crowd of pandal-hoppers.

Earlier - during 1980s - my wife and I used to out with my mother and my sons during the evening of 'Sasthi' and never placed any problem in parking our car or accessing a pandal.This year, I found no place to park my car near the College Street pandal @ 7am on the morning of Dashami !

While sociologists will work on evaluating how 'Sarbajanin Puja' in Calcutta - and in districts too - changed over the decades promoting 'art of installation', specially with advent of participation of sponsors/advertisers, the revelers are never short of discovering wonders in every 'par' - locality. The very famous Puja at Naktala this year has taken the art of installation to a new height!

The pandal has been planned to look like a bird. The curvatures are inspired by a sickle . Tons of high quality timber has been used to build this 'bird' !

Lot of thinking, imagination has gone in creating the idol of the goddess. She is in battle-mode - her being reminded me of Jiten Pal's creation of 1960s for 23Palli Sarbajanin. Several photos are required to convey the impression which has been built with metal and mehagani timber.

Durga rides the 'Mahishasura' - his posture shows he is about to be defeated. Durga holds his left horn with her left hand and raises the sword which is also the trident in her right.

Durga in her fiercest mood.Her large eyes are angry. Her hair flying.

Are her two shoulders at slightly different levels like a famous creation of a famous artist ?

The other Puja that requires mention was at FD-Block.THe idol is 52' tall - would not go for immersion.Reportedly, an urchin used to weep every year when Durga's idol sed to be taken for immersion. This year, the Puja Committee decided to go for a kind of near-permanent idol. Very proportionate is the creation - but Mintoo Pal has to explain my son's query - Why Laksmi & Saraswati are taller than Kartik & Ganesh ??

This is the tallest Durga in 2011. There must be very interesting stories on how the concept was born & subsequently brought into reality ! If chronicles of these installations were written,
they would have interesting readings for us !