Adding glamour to city’s Durga Puja festivities

Bollywood art director has designed a palace-themed pandal at Shivaji Park for Bengal Club

In a first, Bollywood art director Nitin Desai has designed the Bengal Club’s pandal for Durga Puja at Shivaji Park. Based on the theme of a grand Indian palace, the organisers are expecting the grand pandal to attract several visitors for the puja. It will be inaugurated on Thursday by the children from civic-run Balak Vihar School.

The 20,000-sq.ft. pandal will also be senior citizen and disabled friendly this year. The organisers said, like every year, in keeping with Bengal’s age-old tradition, the idols are made using eco-friendly materials like mud and special water-soluble chemical-free paints. The tableau, which includes the 20-feet idol of goddess Durga, will be adorned in benarasi sarees and dhotis, and exquisite jewellery.

In a press statement, Joy Chakraborty, spokesperson, Bengal Club, said in addition to celebrating Bengal’s culture and tradition, the club will also showcase their core value of striving to create unity through sustained community services. “Bengal Club has, beginning early this year, taken up the responsibility of providing free lunch to all the students of Balak Vihar School every Saturday, in collaboration with ISCKON. Future plans are also being drawn up for organising medical camps and providing free school uniforms to the female students of the school. The initiative is a part of Bengal Club’s charity project called Sampoorna, which focuses on the welfare of girl child and women empowerment,” he said.

Source: Read Full Article