Durga Puja in NCR: Focus on Women's Safety and Folk Art
The pandal set up by Bangiya Parishad resembles Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s Barnaparichay While most Durga Puja pandals celebrate Bengali folk arts and heritage, some in NCR are embracing the theme ...
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The Bangiya Parishad’s pandal is designed to resemble Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s Barnaparichay. While many Durga Puja pandals in the NCR region celebrate Bengali folk arts and heritage, there are some that have chosen to focus on women’s safety as a theme to empower goddesses in everyday life. Various pandals in CR Park, such as B-Block’s Kashi Vishwanath-themed pandal and the Kali Mandir pandal adorned with daaker saaj-style idol and alpona motifs, pay tribute to heritage. The Milani Cultural and Welfare Association’s pandal showcases the theme of women’s empowerment to raise awareness about women’s safety. Additionally, at Mayur Vihar Ph-1 pandal, large hand-painted pankhas are used to convey the theme. Other notable themes include Barnoporichoy at Sec 56, Gurgaon and a rustic ode to rural Bangla at The Cooperative Ground Durga Puja Samity’s pandal. The Durgotsab GK2 pandal features Kalighat-style patachitra art on the ceiling, creating a visual sankirtan, while an artist's sketch at the entrance honors the workers who built the pandal.Number 40 at CR Park is hosting a celebration of traditional folk art from four regions of Bengal - Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, and Midnapur - renowned for their red soil. The venue is adorned with gamcha, while the walls and panels exhibit the rural heritage of these areas. School teacher and artist Ashish was busy putting final touches on a shora - hand-painted earthen discs - at the Pocket 40 pandal. The Arambagh Puja Samiti pandal's theme, 'Abandoned Mothers', sheds light on the challenges faced by widows navigating life alone. The Matri Mandir pandal invites visitors on a captivating journey into the heart of gram Bangla with vibrant Bengali artwork displayed throughout the alleys and panels. At the Jalvayu Vihar Sanskritik Kalyan Samity’s pandal in Sector 21, artists have created a Bonedi Bari adorned with green wooden windows and cross beams, featuring paintings celebrating dhunuchi naach. The 16th edition of Balaka Durgotsav in Sector 61, Noida, presents the theme ‘Temple of Peace and Harmony’ with an off-white and gold pandal decorated with intricate cut-outs of doves. An Alpona on the street leads visitors to the Noida Sector 137 Sarbojanin Pujo Samiti’s pandal, highlighted by multiple hand-painted kulos, hand-woven sieves commonly used in Bengali households. Celebrating Satyajit Ray's cinema and the Ray family legacy, the DLF Phase IV's DCDP Bengali Cultural Society draws inspiration from the film 'Sonnar Kella' (1974). The pandal's facade resembles the golden fortress seen in the movie.It bears a resemblance to the Sun Temple of Konark in the following pictures: Ajay Kumar Gautam, Ranjit Kumar, Lokesh Kashyap, Nishad Alam.