Teading tradition

The Rs 25-lakh Puja, which will enter its 73rd year this time, grabs eyeballs with its sprawling ground dotted with stalls which offer you anything from pizzas to new mobile connections. And then if the soggy jhalmuri and watery kulfi is lost on you, you have shrill air whistles and innumerable people huddled together on make shift newspaper mats to make your nights, every day of the Puja. 8220;Pujas, in the past, used to be organised in natmandirs of zamindars8217; homes. There used to be a fair around most such Pujas, and people from all walks of life used to descend upon the fair,8221; says Basu. The parallels are not hard to find, with the warm, open feel that draws people to Maddox Square where the spirit of the pujas of the heydays still reside.

The Ekdalia Evergreen Puja committee, which was established in 1943 in Gariahat, grabs headlines every year with record number of footfalls but is yet to wake up to the hype around 8216;theme Pujas8217;. A no-frills pandal, an opulently dressed deity and a series of educative lighting pattern, that for years have amused children, remain the high point of the Puja. 8220;A Puja for us, is part devotion and part belonging. Something fancy requires a lot of attention on the faccedil;ade, and it takes away from the spirit of the Puja,8221; says Goutam Mukherjee, joint general secretary of the Ekdalia Evergreen Puja. So, 8216;togetherness8217; is the buzzword for the Rs 40 lakh crowd-puller. From active participation of all the neighbourhood people to bijoya sammilani and bangla ganer jalsha, from bhog distribution all the three days of the Puja to community dinners, Ekdalia remains one of the few Pujas that still celebrate the spirit of a baroari Puja. 8220;We have handpicked a real Benarasi saree for the deity and have conceptualised a lighting frame on one of the most important events of the year, Abhinav Bindra8217;s Olympic gold,8221; Mukherjee reiterates about their tradition.

And when it8217;s not the urge to preserve warmth and belonging, that prevents prominent Puja organisers to jump into the theme bandwagon, it8217;s 8216;devotion8217; which walks away with the cake. 8220;We worship the powers of the mother. With due respect to others, we feel devotion should not be eclipsed by art and exhibitionism,8221; says Alok Mitra about the old-school Bagbazar Sarbojanin Puja which started off in 1919. Down the years, the Puja has maintained the ek chala format, the soothing non-fussy pandal, the warm rustic mela that thrives on aloor chop-beguni and balloon shooting. Bibhas Majumdar, general secretary of the Rs 25 lakh College Square Puja finds the Pujas8217; tryst with modern art a 8220;little dubious8221;. 8220;As it is, today8217;s youth is so removed from the roots of our culture. I don8217;t agree with alienating them more from the ethnic colours of our Puja,8221; says Majumdar. So, College Square oscillates between the traditional ek chaala daaker shaaj idol to the atchala version and tries to remain closest to the books starting with the kumari puja. For theme hunters, Majumder has an evocative weapon 8212; a book that has write-ups about 8216;themes8217; of social relevance that should ideally have the youth interested, than pandals made of combs and safety pins.