Bhubaneswar: Varanasi Ghats, Russia’s State Hermitage Museum…
A new pandal, a new theme. Pandal-hopping is going to be exciting in Bhubaneswar this time.
The countdown to the five-day-long Durga Puja festival has begun and going by the pandals — grand, towering and with unique themes — it’s clear that puja committees in Bhubaneswar plan to welcome Goddess Durga in a grand way this time.
While the Jharpada Durga Puja Samiti’s pandal is themed on the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, and the pandal of Sarbajanina Durga Puja Samiti of Old Station Bazaar brings alive Varanasi’s ghats, which we have already featured in Odisha Bytes, here’s a glimpse of the Baramunda Durga Puja Committee’s pandal: It transports you to Rajasthan walking through one of its majestic palaces. That’s because the pandal has been designed like the Jodhpur palace.
“We began preparations on the puja pandal after Ganesh Puja. Around 40 craftsmen from Kolkata are engaged in the pandal work,” Rama Ranasingh, president of Baramunda Puja Committee, told Odisha Bytes.
The pandal is almost 80 per cent complete. “We are hoping that all work will be completed before ‘sasthi’. The idol of Devi Durga is also almost over,” he said.
The Baramunda Puja Committee has always given special attention to Navratri rituals. “We hope a huge crowd will visit our pandal this year. All arrangements have been made for the safety and security of devotees. A group of volunteers has been deployed for the management of crowd and parking,” Ranasingh added.
There will be separate ‘entry’ and ‘exit’ lanes for devotees visiting the pandal this year.
“Meena Bazaar, various melody programmes and street food kiosks are some of the attractions of the puja pandal this time,” he said.
Located on Chittar Hill, the highest point in Jodhpur, Jodhpur Palace offers breathtaking views of the historical Blue City, vast sand dunes and the intimidating Mehrangarh Fort. Built between 1928 and 1943, the Jodhpur Palace is a magnificent piece of Rajasthan’s heritage.
