CUTTACK: Just like Durga Puja, Kali Puja in Cuttack city is celebrated with traditional pomp and gaiety with around 75 puja committees erecting the idols of Goddess Kali at their pandals.
Sources said the budget for the festival ranges from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per puja committee. Of the total 75 committees, 34 have come up with silver tableau and several of them have decorated the Mother Goddess with massive gold and silver jewellery.
Of all the puja committees, Bakhrabad Loka Mandala puja committee worships the Maa Kali in Her fierce ‘Chhinnamasta’ form (the self-decapitated goddess). The form of the deity is seen with a severed head in one hand and streams of blood flowing out of Her neck. While one stream goes down to Her mouth in the severed head, other two fall into the mouths of her two attendants. The goddess could be seen stepping on a copulating couple.
In Bidhyadharpur, idol immersion is carried out in a traditional way where people, instead of using vehicles, carry the deity on their shoulders. As many as 30 Kali Puja pandals have come up in Bidyadharpur locality this time.
Meanwhile, police have made elaborate arrangements to ensure smooth and peaceful celebration of the festival.
Police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said 400 police officers, 64 platoons of police force and anti-terrorist squads have been mobilised in different places for crowd control and maintenance of law and order. He further confirmed that no change has been made in the route to be used for the immersion procession. “More police personnel and forces would be deployed at sensitive places,” Singh added.
The immersion ceremony will be conducted on October 24, said Mahanagar Shanti Committee secretary Bhikari Das.