About (Greater Kailash II) GK 2 Durga Puja, Uday Shankar Park
The GK 2 Durgotsav is a Puja celebration committee. We have been celebrating this festival for the past 21 years. This year we celebrate – Kumari Mahotsav ” save the girl child” as our core them for the year.
Durga Puja celebration is one of the many Indian festivals celebrated all across the country in a much grander scale.
The number of people attending the festival crosses millions in terms of footfall in each pandal. a lot of activities happen during this 4-day long festival.
Primarily a festival of Bengal, the love and popularity of the same has led to a nationwide celebration by people belonging to different clans.
As the Durga Puja celebrations inched onto the seventh day (Saptami), festival fervor gripped the city on Monday. Diverse themes were visible at the festival hubs like Chittaranjan Park, with unique pandals dotting different corners. The area has eight pandals, each with a unique set of ideas. While one opted for centenary celebrations of New Delhi being the national capital of India, for others, nature became the innate source of inspiration.
Subir Datta, secretary, Cooperative Ground Puja Samiti, CR Park said, “We have opted for a nature theme this year. The idol of Maa Durga is perched on the cave-like structure and aesthetic finishes of water flowing from behind. Besides, we have four waterfall structures separately to complete the theme. The colors used to paint the murals are obtained naturally. The copper color (base color of the idol) is prepared from the mud of rivers Yamuna and Ganges and mixed with turmeric powder. We have also eliminated the use of bamboo sticks from the main puja mandap.”
The Greater Kailash-II puja pandal is a replica of the Rashtrapati Bhawan Delhi. Sameer Banerjee, secretary, GK-II Durgotsav Samiti said, “We are commemorating 100 years of New Delhi as the national Capital. Post this capital shift from Kolkata during British rule, Delhi blossomed into a world city. We could not replicate the central dome of the Bhawan due to the height restrictions of the pandal. This has been built at an approximate cost of around `10 lakh. We can easily accommodate eight thousand people here.”
With elaborate plans of feasting while seeking goddess Durga’s blessings, Delhiites thronged in large numbers to the puja pandals. Siddharth Banerjee, one of the visitors to Kali Mandir puja said, “It is a tradition at most of the Bengali homes not to cook for the four days Durga puja is celebrated. The ‘Bhog Prasad‘ is consumed during these celebration days in the afternoon and in the evening we feast on the host of delicacies on offer at various pandals. It is that time of the year when we can take the liberty to shop and have our mouthfull.” People can savor authentic Bengali delicacies at these pujas. Kallol Acharya, joint secretary, Mela Ground Samiti, CR Park claimed, “We have the best of authentic Bengali cultural shows and cuisines that nobody can match. We have flown down cooks from Kolkata and will definitely offer authentic Bengali dishes.”
At the Kali Mandir pandal, CR Park, Anjali or Aarti was going on in the full swing, with loud drum beats. “All the rituals carried out at our pandal are according to the Shastras,” claimed Santi Majumdar, secretary of the Kali Mandir Society. “We started our preparations two months in advance, as we had to raise a huge amount of `50 lakh spent on the pandal. Of the 16 slots (an hour each) allocated to the cultural programs, we have reserved seven for the local artisans and rest for the artisans from Kolkata.”
People rued about the tough security arrangements at all these places. Manual frisking, and CCTV cameras, were some of the common features visible. However, with Delhi Police going stiff on the parking, the arterial road of CR Park was not at all clogged. Only the residential vehicles were allowed and the rest were allotted a separate space to park.
Durgotsav has been welcoming Ma for the past 25 years and as we celebrate our 21st year. we take the liberty to ask more people to join us to make this festival larger than before.
Location of GK II Durga Puja S-39 GK2 Greater Kailash, New Delhi