Pg:5- Tanvi | New Delhi: The idol's eyes have

NEW DELHI: The idol's eyes have been painted. With the Devipaksha (period of the goddess) beginning from Monday Mahalaya is the day when people do tarpan (puja) for the souls of their ancestors and the idols are given finishing touches for the Bengali community in the city, it is officially the last leg of the wait.
Durga Puja starts on October 5 and even with the security concerns throwing a spanner in some of the elaborate plans, with the expected 400 puja pandals in the Capital, the spirit is high.
It's the time to celebrate female power, the victory of good over evil, don new clothes, meet friends and revel in the smell of siuli (small white flowers associated with autumn and with the festival). On Mahashashthi, first day of the puja, the goddess is welcomed amidst the beats of the dhaks and the clay idols of Durga and her four children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh infused with life. According to the mythology, Shri Ram had performed Durga Puja just before leaving for Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana, while the Puranas say that king Suratha used to worship Durga in spring. However, Rama worshipped the goddess in autumn, which is why it is also known as "Akal Bodhon'' or untimely worship. The festival goes on for the next five days, culminating in dasami when the idol is immersed in the Yamuna.
Apart from the security considerations that are bothering most puja samitis in the city, arrangements are in full swing. Anjan Mukherjee, convenor for Durgotsav 2008 at Shiv Mandir in CR Park, says: "This year too, our theme is traditional in every aspect with a Sabeki Pratima conforming to the Ek-Chala style. Besides, we are bringing Rezwana Chowdhury Bonya and Sraboni Sen from Kolkata and they will render Rabindra Sangeet.''
Debashis Saha, head of the organizing committee of Matri Mandir in Safdarjung Enclave, elaborates: "Our design for the pandal this time is based on the typical Raj Bari (a Bengal palace) style. The entrance gates resemble the doors of any conventional household in Bengal.''
Matri Mandir is also organizing a Dhanuchi (an earthen pot containing burning embers) Naach competition on Mahanavami in which winners will be awarded with five-star hotel vouchers. Saha adds: "The cultural programmes include performances by Javed Ali of Jodha Akbar fame, Sanchita of Sa Re Ga Ma fame and an evening with Srikumar Chattopadhyay presenting folk songs in Bangla, called Torja.''
The magnitude of the celebrations can be gauged from the lavish budget some of the puja samitis boast of. For example in C R park, while the organizers in Shiv Mandir have a total fund of approximately Rs 40 lakh, the B-Block Puja Samiti estimates their collections around Rs 35 lakh. The Puja Samiti in Matri Mandir, Safdarjung Enclave, has a budget of Rs 25 lakh.
The footfall experienced at the Pandals has only grown every year. Suman Chatterjee, secretary, Navapalli Puja Samiti, says, "Huge crowd throng the pandal on all days of the puja. There are nearly 40,000 people in the pandal at any given point of time.''
"Afterall,'' Saha says, "it is a community festival which draws a vast number of people, and not just the people from Bengal.''