RANCHI : DURGA Puja pandals (stages set up for the religious ceremony) are commonly run by men in every state where the festival is celebrated. One pandal in Ranchi however, seems to be shaking things up.
The ‘Matri Sangha Durga Puja Samiti’ as the name suggests, is an all women organisation which has been organising the puja at the BK Sahay Compound, Lalpur, Ranchi for over 12 years. Shipra Sahay, the president of the committee, said she got the idea to start up a pandal because of her late husband’s insistence on going pandal-hopping every year. She started the pandal in 2006 with 15 members, all of whom are women.
“Though, it is a very small affair, involving only the people living in the locality, several outsiders also visit us just because it (the pandal) is managed and organised by women only. They also express surprise when they see women taking charge of everything in the Pandal,” Sahay said.
Every aspect in the running of the pandal is administered to by these women.