Durga Puja in Kolkata housing complexes

Durga Puja is a four day affair with hundreds of rituals that need to be followed meticulously and, it used to be an annual festival of the landlords or zamindars. They stayed in huge palatial buildings and the whole village would be invited to join in the prayers. There would also be associated festivities comprising lunch in the afternoon and entertainment in the evening that would be presented by troupes from Kolkata. The total cost would be borne by the landlord himself.
Some of these landlords stayed in Kolkata itself and the festivities here was one of showing off their assets and the invitees used to be British nationals who were employed in different levels of the government. Then there were Bengali businessmen who mattered. Here also, the total cost was met by the landlord himself – it was his method of remaining in the good books of the British rulers.

However, once the British left and the Bengalis began to move out of villages and settle in cities, they missed the annual festivities – and, in order to revive the culture, they began to pool their resources in the form on money and manpower and perform the Durga Puja in their communities. These came to be known as ‘baroari pujas’ – or pujas conducted by twelve friends. The figure twelve is a figurative one – it could be any number of families who join to participate in the festivities.
Suddenly one day, the scenario changed and multistory buildings began to come up in the city of Kolkata. There emerged a new breed of businessmen who were after land. They would pounce on any vacant land, coerce the owners to sell it and offer them ready cash plus a flat in the proposed housing complex. Such an offer was not easy to turn down and, soon, there mushroomed innumerable housing complexes. Along with them came a new set of culture and values. It was the period of changes in all walks of life and Durga Puja was no exception.
Thus it came to pass that housing complexes decided to join hands and perform the pujas. All the residents pool their resources, the women take over the religious rituals of the pujas, the young boys and girls perform song and dance programs while the men gather to play cards or go vocal on political topics. They have lunch together and even dinner. And, these pujas bring back the village culture and one wonders – the wheels have turned a full cycle! (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Durga Puja today is a commercial venture

Durga Puja today is a huge commercial venture – this is applicable to the Baroari pujas and not the household pujas some of which date back to 300 years ago. The household pujas that have survived the ages are today the annual meeting grounds of family members who are scattered all across the globe. And, on this occasion, they come together to exchange notes and find out who has succeeded in life and who has not been so lucky.
Anyway – the other category of pujas, namely the baroari pujas, have become the arena to announce political strategies and the organizers have to keep an eye on the awards. It is the awards and the number of sponsors that define the success of a puja.
It was not like that in the olden days. I remember the good old days - it was in 1959 when I was in a group of boys who had been detailed by our Durga Puja Committee to go to Kumortuli to buy an idol and bring it to the pandal.
Ours was a group of around ten, we were given a lorry – the leader of our group was given Rs 500 to buy the idol.

Yes, in those days, Rs 500 could get a reasonable sized idol. I remember the wonderful experience - we reached Kumortuli by around 4pm and put our lorry in queue while the leader accompanied by the gang went inside to select and bargain about the price. Idols were readily available except a few which had ‘already sold’ boards on them.
Once our turn came, it was past 11pm – there were local porters who carried the idols up to the lorry. By the time we returned to our pandal, it was midnight. The idols were unloaded and our decorators took over to decorate the pandal and install the idols. The decorators were another group of our friends.
Unfortunately, all that camaraderie has vanished. Today it is all done by professionals. Right from selection of idols, to placing the order and decoration of the pandal there are specific groups. And, money flows freely because most of the pujas have been taken over by people who have the clout.
The funds come from sponsors and their banner ads can be seen around all the venues. And, sponsors will come forward only if the committee has something special to offer. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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