Puja crowd pullers

KOLKATA: Roll over friendly neighbourhood decorators. Professionals have invaded the puja pandal scene and themes are the way to go. The focus, over the last couple of years, has definitely shifted from innovative lighting to the pandal decoration, never mind the image size and beauty.
Each committee vies to outdo the other and in the process using materials as diverse as water hyacinth and long playing records."The name of the game is innovation," the theme maker for Bosepukur Sitala Mandir, Bandhan Raha, had said of his earthen cup pandal last year.
This year too, he has a crowd puller with a sugar cane fibre pandal. He has designed five other Puja pandals this year, including mayor Subrata Mukherjee''s Ekdalia Evergreen''s earth coloured foam one and a temple style pandal made of jute, cotton waste and coconut shells for Karunamoyee housing estate.
Close competitor Bosepukur Talbagan too is sure of its place in the sun. "State fire minister Pratim Chatterjee said we would surely get an award," said a jubilant Pradip Dey, the ‘theme maker'' for Talbagan, although there were early doubts that the pandal could be fire-prone.
The pandal, almost five-storey high, is decorated with figurines, flowers and designs created from over 80,000 long playing records, all donated by HMV. Each record has been treated with fire retardant material and all electrical connections inside the pandal have been specially insulated.
The Kasba area has among the most innovations within walking distance with Sitala Mandir and Talbagan, apart from an idol made of biscuits and a pandal at Rajdanga made of weeds. Salt Lake comes a close second.
The CF block pandal is entirely made of bamboo and shaped like an inverted diamond. Mirror optical fittings have replaced the traditional chandeliers and provide natural lighting to the pandal.
Just recreating monuments as pandals are passe. Themes like the fishing village at Badamtala are happening. At Salt Lake''s AB block, a whole village of mud huts, complete with a central courtyard chandi mandap, and a hat has come up. Artisans from two craft centres Prantik and Chitram are working on shola (pith) wood and cane every evening and their products are on sale. The lighting compliments the setting.