CUTTACK: In Cuttack, Durga Puja is not just about celebration. Here, festivity blends the millennium city’s rich culture with social responsibility.
Beyond the dazzle of exquisite silver filigree backdrops or Chandi Medhas, beautifully crafted light gates and majestic theme-based pandals, lies the organisers’ commitment towards society and brotherhood. Cuttack has close to 170 pandals, and be it caring for the underprivileged or creating awareness on nature, a majority of them are doing their bit.
The Choudhury Bazaar puja pandal, which has been conducting puja since 1956, has planned a special puja trail for differently-abled children. On the occasion of Sasthi on Sunday, the puja committee has decided to take 60 differently-abled children to a select group of temples and Durga Puja pandals that are accessible to them. The children will be accompanied by their special educators, who will explain to them the significance of puja, said Debashish Ray, secretary of the puja committee.
The children will return with gifts of books and stationery products. “Durga Puja is a celebration for everyone. But, these children do not step out to witness it because of their physical limitations, due to which we decided to organise a special tour for them this year,” he added.
At Kafla Bazaar puja committee, which has been hosting the festival since the 1960s, in addition to slokas on Goddess Durga, messages on the ill-effects of drugs, alcohol and plastics will be played through sound systems installed throughout the area by the puja organisers. Tapas Kumar Praharaj, member of the committee, said messages on the need to replace plastic bags with environment-friendly options, and the menace of drug and alcohol abuse will be played through the loudspeakers on all the five days of puja. “We have seen many families being affected by drugs and alcohol in our area. Hence, we felt we should take up this issue during puja, which attracts a lot of people,” he said.
Tapas added that awareness will also be on the need for a complete ban on the use of plastic, which is one of the main reasons behind waterlogging in Cuttack. Plastic is also an issue that the Mangalabaag Puja Committee wants to address during the festival. With many devotees coming to the pandal carrying flowers and ‘bhoga’ in plastic packets, the committee has decided to offer each one of them jute bags to carry the same.
Plants have always been central to Khannagar Durga Puja Committee. And this year, the organisers have decided to give out 500 to 1,000 saplings to all devotees coming to the pandal from Sasthi. “On all the five days of the Durga Puja, we will give people flower and fruit-bearing plant saplings. These saplings have been procured from government nurseries in Bhubaneswar,” said secretary of Khannagar puja committee Prafulla Sahoo. The committee, known for its innovative welcome gates, will pay tribute to the martyrs of Pulwama attack through an ‘Operation Sindoor’ gate.
Similarly at Sutahat puja committee, where Durga Puja is being celebrated for seven decades, a campaign ‘Maa Paine Gacha Tiye’ will be launched on Sunday by the organisers. Devotees coming to the pandal will be given a sapling, which they can plant at their homes or anywhere else in the name of their mothers, said Biswajit Panda, member of the committee.
Food is an integral part of the celebration. Committees that offer ‘Dahi Pakhala’, ‘Chanka’, ‘Saga Bhaja’, ‘Khechudi’ and other traditional delicacies to the Mother Goddess, feed the same to everyone, irrespective of their social standing, caste or religion, who visit the pandal to offer prayers to the deity. Accordingly, the committees prepare the ‘Dahi Pakhala’ bhoga in quintals and distribute it among the locals and the needy. One of the first pandals to begin the trend, Chandni Chowk, feeds close to 7,000 people on Nabami. “No one who comes to the pandal that day is denied bhoga which is Kanika and Macha Munda Chencheda,” said Susanta Pani, secretary of the committee. This year, the committee will cook for 10,000 devotees.