After two years of lull, Durga puja organisers across the world, are all geared up to celebrate the festivities in a massive scale this year.
In a unique effort, Heritage Bengal Global, a non-profit organisation in the UK that promotes Bengal’s heritage and culture globally, is organising its first ever ‘Durga Parade on Thames’ on Saturday 8 October in London, 1pm onwards. The event that replicates the sentiment behind the carnival hosted at Kolkata’s Red Road, will proudly showcase culture and values of Bengal, while carrying Durga ‘protimas’ (idols) provided by several pujas across the UK on a boat, sailing from Westminster pier to downstream and back.
The idea behind different idols on a boat is to exhibit the existence of diverse arts and crafts within one community and social nuances.
Organiser and Director HBG, Anirban Mukhopadhyay told Asian Voice, “The Durga puja celebration in West Bengal has recently been awarded the UNESCO Heritage status, for transcending from religious identity to establishing itself as a socio-cultural symbol. This potentially also create a huge tourism opportunity for the State and the country, which could significantly boost the economy of the region. To raise awareness about this celebration globally, we are organising the Parade on Thames on Saturday 8 October. I am extremely thankful to the supporters and sponsors for making this event possible.
"I am also very thankful to my HBG members, especially Abirbhaab Bandyopadhyay, Sourav Paul, Mahua Bej, Rajib Saha, Priyanka Burman, Rahul Das Gupta, Ramita Ghosh, Tamalika Basu, Anuran Sarkar and Palash Mukherjee for all the help."
Ten events to celebrate 10th anniversary
Adda in Slough is celebrating 75th anniversary of Indian Independence and organising 10 big events to celebrate the organisation’s 10th year anniversary.
Last year at their Durga puja, Adda introduced a ‘Gate of Joy’ where it constructed a special entrance using handicrafts of Bengal in collaboration with Banglanatak.com. Continuing the efforts even this year, the gate will be made of Chhou mask, bamboo dolls and Patachitra – handicrafts sourced from rural Bengal. There will be Baul and folk artists performing alongside the usual Puja festivities.
Pujas across the globe
Ireland Durgotsav Committee is celebrating puja for the 6th year. Instead of Lotus, as rituals demand, they use Lilies. Saswata Chattopadhyay, from the committee said, “This year we have started training people to become priests in Durga pujas. There are many counties in Ireland who want to organise puja but due to lack of trained priests they haven’t been successful. To solve this problem, we have started a 10-12 days’ workshop for training priests. This is a certified course.
“This year three trainees who have appeared for the final exam, are conducting pujas in counties. It is a big achievement for us.”
Helsinki Durga Puja is observed in the northernmost capital of the world. A few Bengalis met in 1999 and decided to celebrate the Durga Puja festival and named it ‘Helsinki Durga Puja’. In the beginning the organisers did not have a ‘pratima’ (idol) and substituted it by a ‘Pot’- a painting by a Finnish woman, a friend of one of their compatriots. However, they eventually managed to get a Durga Pratima in 2003 with the sincere efforts of one of their Bengali enthusiasts, whose contribution to the inception of puja in Helsinki was enormous. Now there are three Pujas in the capital city area of Finland.
The Lagos Bengali Association in Nigeria started its first activity with Durga Puja in 1981. With almost 200 Bengali families around, not only they celebrate Durga Puja, Laxmi Puja or Saraswati Puja, they also organise various cultural programmes throughout the year for adults and children. This year they have finally received the approval to set up a Kali temple in the premises of Indian Mandir Foundation at Palm Grove, Ilupeju.
In Malaysia, the arrival of Bengalis at the beginning of the 20th century, saw the initiation of Durga Puja festival in Seremban, around 1925.
The Malaysian Bengalee Association (MBA) has been organising this almost century old festival to uphold the traditions and ethos of this overseas Bengali community with real gusto and belief.
Sharmistha Pal from MBA Malaysia said, “After initial years in Seremban, the celebrations were shifted to Gita Ashram in Petaling Jaya (Kuala Lumpur) around 1978; and then to the current spacious and well equipped Bangunan Peladang hall (Kuala Lumpur) in 2007 to hold the 5-day festivities of worship, cultural performance and good food.”
