Durga Puja celebrations this year were about more than just colours and creativity. Moving away from the customary themes, organisers this year experimented with socio-political and environmental issues.
From depicting the refugee crisis due to the implementation of the National Register of Citizens, to paying homage to soldiers killed in the Pulwama attack, theme-based pandals this year were major crowd-pullers.
Here is a peek into the celebrations and some of the most prominent themes this year from Kolkata and other cities:
Dibrugarh: A view of a Durga Puja pandal on the theme of 'Chandrayaan-2' during the ongoing Durga Puja festival in Dibrugarh district of Assam, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. (PTI Photo)(PTI10_7_2019_000168B)
A community pandal themed on the condition of refugees in the view of the panic over National Register of Citizens (NRC), in Kolkata. Shuttlecocks and badminton rackets are strewn randomly in front of the marquee conveys that “refugees are nothing but shuttlecocks lobbed to each other’s side by two countries”.
A pandal themed on the condition of refugees.
The Bholanath Mandir Barowari Durga Puja pandal displays photographs of the soldiers killed in the Pulwama attack, in Guwahati, Assam.
A community puja pandal on the theme of global warming in Kolkata.
A pandal draws attention to the bygone era of letters and letter-boxes, at Chetla Agrani, in Kolkata.
Visitors take pictures of a marquee depicting religious unity and named, 'We are one, Not alone', in Beliaghata, Kolkata.
A clay idol of Goddess Durga, shown with a mask on to raise awareness about environment pollution and plastics.
Idols and decorative accessories made from recycled waste material at a Durga puja pandal in New Delhi.
A pandal based on the theme of Jonathan Swift's book 'Gulliver's Travels'.