BENGALURU: One of the very important parts of Durga Puja is the decoration. People go out of their way to come up with creative ideas to decorate the idol. To promote Assamese art, craft, and culture, the Assam Society of Bangalore this year has decorated the idol at the Durga puja pandal in HSR layout with Assam Silk. In the Indian fashion scene as well as the cultural scene, silk has held an important place.
Silk has been an integral part of that every region has their own specific silk that goes by different names. Hirak Jyoti Kakati, general secretary of Assam Society of Bengaluru, says every state has their own kind of celebrations and unique elements.
“This is our 10th puja in Bengaluru. And this time, we have kept a specific Assamese theme. All the idols were wearing Assam silk and we had got all the sarees from Assam,” says Kakati, adding that they are trying to promote their culture. The sarees are from a village in Assam called Sualkuchi.
“In that village, every person is an artiste. The women hand stitch the sarees. It takes close to three months to complete a whole saree, so we had to place an order three months in advance,” says the software engineer. The prices start from Rs 6,000-7,000 and run into a couple of lakhs.
The association spent about Rs 15,000 per saree. Established in 1982, the Assamese Association of Bangalore has always celebrated Durga Puja in a grand way.
“After Bihu, the second biggest festival is Durga Puja, which has similar and elaborate celebrations to the Bengalis. In the last two years, we didn’t have a big celebration, we had a small puja in a hall for the members. This year we have done it in an open space which is open for the public as well. So we wanted to do something different and grand,” says Kakati, adding that for the cultural programmes, Assamese artists like Tanmoy Kripton, Pompi Purabi will be travelling to the city.
Cultural representation does not just end with the silk worn by the idol.
“We have a Gamosa mob, which is derived from Assam’s traditional gamosa. On the day of Dashami, each one of our members wears gamosa, a head gear and does a procession from our venue to Ulsoor,” says Kakati, adding that they have around 250 volunteers participating in it.
ABOUT ASSAM SILK
These worms live on som and soalu leaves.
Muga silk is obtained from Antheraea assamensis worm, and a golden colour silk thread is extracted from Sualkuchi, known as the village of weavers, is said to have been established in the 11th century. The weaving industry of Sualkuchi received a big boost during the Second World War