BHUBANESWAR: As the capital city gears up for another grand and big-budget Durga Puja, the Jharpada Durga Puja Samiti is all set to welcome the Mother Goddess with a majestic ‘Golden Palace’ themed pandal this year. With barely 12 days left for the festival, a group of 50 artisans led by West Bengal’s artist Pratap Chandra Giri is busy making the pandal that will be a staggering 85 feet tall and 150 feet wide.
“The design of the palace is unique and has been planned by our own artists who are working for the last one and half months to give it shape using bamboo, plywood, fibre, sunpack sheets, colour glasses and other materials,” said samiti president Sikhar Jena.
Apart from a large entrance gate for darshan, the pandal will have four exit gates from inside to facilitate smooth darshan to the devotees. To attract crowd, the committee has also decided to focus on decoration with the portrayal of mythological characters and tribal culture in illumination.
Members of the samiti said the idol will be 12 feet tall with a 20 feet high altar in the backdrop. Besides, the goddess and other deities in the pandal will be decorated with silver ornaments.
“Thousands of people turn up for darshan in our pandal every year. To facilitate hassle-free darshan to devotees, we will have around 300 volunteers and puja committee members. Besides, 12 CCTVs will also be installed for security purpose,” said samiti secretary Dharanidhar Jena.
Jena said special arrangements will be made to ensure smooth darshan for differently-abled persons and senior citizens at the pandal. Melody and cultural programmes will also be organised as part of the five-day celebration.
Besides, samiti members said a 40-ft high effigy of Ravan will also be created for Ravana Podi on the day of Dashami. They said a Meena Bazaar planned during the festival will also be a crowd puller.