When Durga COMES HOME

The Bengali families turn out in great numbers to celebrate with food, fun and music

October 10, 2018 04:16 pm | Updated 04:16 pm IST

Festive fervour  Bengali women performing a traditional dance at a programme organised by Teeny Boppers at Hawa Mahal; people participating in a dandiya dance

Festive fervour Bengali women performing a traditional dance at a programme organised by Teeny Boppers at Hawa Mahal; people participating in a dandiya dance

The euphoria has set in as the Bengalis in the city prepare to welcome Maa Durga along with her children. The feverish preparations have been on for a while now. The Bengali community in Visakhapatnam has done its best to import the flavour and fervour of the Pujo as it unfolds back home in Bengal. Strains of music of Rabindra Sangeet float out from the pandals and one hears snatches of dialogues and song as people rehearse for the cultural shows that will be presented in the evenings. Mahalaya set the ambience going and decorations are on at a furious pace. It’s time to get immersed in the five-day gala of pandal hopping, adda (hangouts), food and music.

Oldest puja

It will be the 58th year of celebrations of Sarbojanin and East Coast Railway Durga Puja organised by Waltair Kalibari. For the first time, the decorations here will be done by artisans invited for the purpose from Kolkata. “This year we wanted to create something special. It will have handcrafted peacock motifs and look different,” assures BC Burman, general secretary of the puja committee. The Waltair Kalibari puja is one of the oldest in the city and draws thousands of people on the festival days. “Cultural programmes are an integral part of our celebrations. On Panchami, Sashti and Saptami, we will have in-house productions. This will be followed by performances by Kolkata artistes on Navami evening,” says Barman, who has lived here for couple of decades. The bhog prasad will be distributed on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami.

Once the city's centre, it was at One Town area that many Bengalis who shifted to the city in search of work in the 1940s and 50s met and bonded as a community. The puja celebrations were held in the iconic Town Hall till 2016. Only last year has the committee shifted the puja celebrations to SP Naidu Memorial Hall (opposite Municipal Stadium) where it will be held from October 15 to 19.

VISAKHAPATNAM, ANDHRA PRADESH, 08/10/2018: Women enjoying dandiya at Dasera celebrations organised by Teeny Boppers at Hawa Mahal in Visakhapatnam on October 06, 2018.  
Photo : K.R. Deepak

VISAKHAPATNAM, ANDHRA PRADESH, 08/10/2018: Women enjoying dandiya at Dasera celebrations organised by Teeny Boppers at Hawa Mahal in Visakhapatnam on October 06, 2018. Photo : K.R. Deepak

To give the younger generation a glimpse of how Durga Puja or Dasera is traditionally celebrated by Bengalis, Telugus and Gujaratis, Teeny Boppers Kindergarten and Playschool organised a cultural programme at the heritage settings of Hawa Mahal last Saturday. From a special presentation of dhanuchi naach by the Bengali women of Waltair Kalibari Puja Committee to dandiya dance presentation by Gujaratis and the floral festival of Bathukamma, the programme heralded the festive fervour in a colourful way.

Homely affair

As the Bengali community grew, more puja committees came up. The newest one is Utsav that holds the celebrations at AMCOSA every year. The preparations start months ahead and all the family members are involved in some way or the other in the festivities. The committee members will cook and serve a Bengali feast at the Anando Mela. A cultural presentation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Karna Kunti Sambad will be the highlight of the evening programmes. “We also have an in-house dance performance which will have a simple play depicting what women like. The celebrations remind us of our roots in Kolkata. We recreate that through our cultural programmes,” says committee member Rita Basu.

Ukkunagaram Durga Puja Committee at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant sees a congregation of over 200 Bengali families. This year, their festivities began on Mahalaya. “Our celebrations draw around 3,000 people every day from the entire township as well as the neighbouring areas. We have tried to retain a literary and cultural flavour to the festivities all these year,” says Anindo Pal, who is closely associated with the literary activities of the committee. This year the committee launches its 25th edition of a literary magazine called Katha that features stories, writings and poems of local talents.

Visakhapatnam will rejoice in the company of Durga till Dashami that heralds the end of the festivities. Then, there will be tears and the worst cases of blues in the Bengali community as it bids an emotional adieu to the Goddess and then begin counting days till the next Durga Pujo.

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