Durga pandals powered with a green message in Hyderabad

Hyderabad ushers in Dasara festivities in varied shades. Durga puja celebrations, acquire a flavour of Bengal, albeit on a smaller scale. The festivities and pavilions in the city are not only getting bigger but also more innovative.

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Here are three themed pandals in the city that are bound to attract attention from September 30 to October 5, even as they send an eco-friendly message.

Cave temple in bamboo

The third floor of an under-construction apartment in Puppalaguda near Manikonda has become the workstation for artist-couple Kuntal and Boul Dey as well as Ashim Majumdar and Kasturi Ray. These four members of Uttaran Bangiya Samiti from Manikonda have been on a mission to recreate an old temple amid a rocky terrain, shadowed by towering trees and a broken pillar.

Natives of Kolkata, Kuntal and Boul are art teachers at Delhi Public School, Khajaguda. “Entering the pandal with its yellow and green lights, will seem like going into a historical cave temple,” says Kuntal who sketched the design. Based on his drawings, Ashim created different pieces of the structure that will be assembled on-site at Sri KVMR Pride Gardens, Narsingi.

Ashim Majumder at the site
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The 24×16 feet eco-friendly structure comprises around 5,000 bamboo frames covered with jute. “We apply the primer and distemper and use PoP (Plaster of Paris) to fill holes. Painting after the base colours have dried creates the day and night effect ,” explains Kuntal.

Also read: Durga Puja: Ashtami Pushpanjali now with Bengali verses

Durga puja pandals are a unique tradition; there is a lot of sentiment is attached to it,” says Boul. These pavilions done on a giant scale in Kolkata, Kuntal observes, are also an opportunity to showcase the crafts. “The five-day festive period sees mind-boggling craftsmanship and there is fierce competition among pandals. From clay tea cups to scrap…, everyone showcases their best.”

Boul Dey
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Kuntal recounts, “Earlier, there was no difference between the decor of a marriage hall and pandal. The trend of involving artists began on a small scale in the ‘80s, in Kolkata. Not all associations can afford artists, so members began contributing in their own way. This controls the budget and everyone gets to experience the joy of creating something.”

Eco-friendly in focus

Bamboo decor at the pandal
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The pandal put up by the 15-year-old Cyberabad Bengali Association has always been theme-based. Their pandal at Narenn Palace, Miyapur will be home to a Durga idol in a sitting posture. “The idol is ‘Shantirupi’ spreading the message of peace and not war (Ukraine) which is the need of the hour,” says Subhro Mukherjee, general secretary of the Association. Shwetanuj Saha, Tapas Biswas, Tirthankar Chattopadhyay and Shovan Saha are also part of the core team.

The rural backdrop comes from its eco-friendly items, majorly bamboo. “We also have kulo (a traditional bamboo tray used by Bengalis at celebrations) used during rice harvesting with other homemade decor items in villages,” he adds.

“With a focus on eco-friendly, we hope the pandal that highlights the importance of villages inspires visitors to be attached to their roots. and learn to use raw materials that villagers use in their daily lives.”

With a touch of tradition

Utsab Cultural Association has been organising Durga puja celebrations in Cyberabad for a decade now. Association founder Krishnendu Roy recalls, “Back in 2013, there were no Durga Puja celebrations in this part of the city; we had to either go to Domalguda or Secunderabad. That is why we started it here” This year, the pandal pays tribute to legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray and his film Pather Panchali. “2021 was Ray’s centenary but due to the pandemic, we could not celebrate it in a big way. This year we remember the legendary director through this design,” he adds.

Interior designer and artist Arijit Pandey, who has been designing the pandal for four years now, has been roped in this year too. The 14×16 feet pandal hosts a 14-feet-high Durga idol at the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM), Gachibowli; Ma Durga will be seen accompanied by her four offspring Karthik, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Ganesh, all designed as village boys and girls (like Apu and Durga of Pather Panchali). Around a hundred pieces of palm leaf hand fans and four-to-six dozen kash phool (Kans grass flower) add to the rural background. Arijit was also inspired by Anik Datta’s Aparajito (another tribute to Ray) that was released this year. “People in Hyderabad like to idolise the Goddess in a traditional way. It was tough to balance traditional festivities andaesthetic value for the pandals,” says Krishendu.