Berhampur: The Bengali diaspora in Berhampur city of Odisha’s Ganjam district has been celebrating Durga Puja in their traditional way for 91 years.
The Bengalis introduced Durga Puja in Berhampur in 1933 under the banner of ‘Bangiya Samitee’. The first Durga Puja here was started by some Bengali employees working in the then Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) at Berhampur Railway Station area in Hillpatna.
A permanent pandal was constructed at Chatterjee lane near Old Bus Stand opposite the Head Post Office 65 years later to celebrate the Durga Puja and other rituals in 1998. As the Bengali diaspora started the Durga Puja in Berhampur for the first time, they named it as “Adi (first) Durga Puja”.
Durga Puja is an occasion for the get-together of Bengali families residing in the Silk City. Around 500 Bengali families are now living in Berhampur. They have kept alive the tradition of organising community Durga puja since the beginning.
The women, particularly married ones, would apply ‘sindoor’ (vermillion) on the Goddess and after that to each other termed ‘Sindoor Khela’ on ‘Dasami’ which is even popular among the non-Bengalis here. It is said to symbolise fruitfulness, puja organisers said.
The Bengalis still continue their traditional drum beating, ‘Chandipatha’ and offering to the Goddess. The priests, cooks and artists to make the idol are hired from West Bengal. Small amount of the earthen soil is generally brought from the red-light area as a symbol and mixed with the soil prepared to make the idol. Earlier, the idol was booked and transported from Kolkata to Berhampur.
The community also offers ‘Annaprasad’ to 500 devotees daily during these days.
During the event, the divides of class, religion and ethnicities collapse as crowds of spectators walk to the pandal to admire the installations, tradition and rituals.
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