The pandal, which is visited by around 1,000 people every year, expects more people this year.
At the BMC garden in Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), devotees can expect to be transported to the interiors of West Bengal during Durga Puja this year. A Gram (village) Bangla theme will be welcoming devotees to the Durga Puja.
"We have been doing various themes for the Durga Puja. In the past few years, we have had Daksineshwari Temple and the way Durga Puja is celebrated in the traditional Zamindari Rajbadi homes. This year, we thought of creating the thatched structures like the ones that are built in rural West Bengal where goddess Durga is kept," said Sudipto Chatterjee, chairman of the Hillside Residents Cultural and Welfare Association (HRCWA). The association is a body of group of housing societies in Thakur Village that jointly organise the Durga Puja festival.
"It was never conceived as a Bengali organisation and we have taken pride in it being full of people from different backgrounds. In fact, we try to keep the Indian culture in mind with various activities that are held in different parts of the country. We will also be having a lot of activities in which we will promote local talents besides inviting celebs. This year we are also looking to have an antakshari competition," added Chatterjee.
The activities will be over and above the Dhunuchi Naach and Sindoor Khela without which no Durga puja is complete. "Only we do not have Kumari Puja because that is mostly done by those who celebrate it in the Ramkrishna Mission style," said Chatterjee.
The pandal, which is visited by around 1,000 people every year, expects more people this year. "Being a holiday we expect higher footfall. We are prepared to give bhog to around 2,000 people irrespective of which community they belong to," said Chatterjee.
"We try to do more in welfare work too over just activities. This time we have decided to have a dental workshop for people who come. There are a lot of slums and people can benefit from this. In the past, we have tried to spruce up and repair cycles and given them to the needy," said Chatterjee. While HRCWA has been having puja, associations such as the Cuffe Parade Residents Association organiseD dandiya.
"Just like in the last few years, this year we organised dandiya for our members. Anyone who wanted to go could collect a pass," said Vijay Bhimrajka, president of the Cuffe Parade Residents Association.
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