Mumbai: Durga at the Tejpal Hall near August Kranti Maidan is the grande dame of Mumbai puja pandals, which attracts crème de la crème of the city's Bengali community for an annual communion over 'puja' and 'bhog'. Started by a three-member group, the religious event entered its 94th year and has become one of the biggest puja pandals in Mumbai.
On Saturday afternoon, thousands of visitors in traditional attire thronged the pandal for 'Anjali puja' as musicians beat 'dhol'. Ashok Basak, ex-chairman of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board who is now associated with Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal, has had a 40-year-old association with the pandal. “The most important feature is that they (organisers) have held on to tradition,” he remarked.
Bombay Durga Bari Samiti Pandal's Bengali essence
Bombay Durga Bari Samiti president Susmita Mitra proudly said that pandal's Bengali essence has been kept intact all over the years while adding that it's being visited by the diverse communities. “It is not a sectarian event, but we have not compromised on the rituals,” said Mitra, highlighting that donations are used for philanthropic works that help tribal mothers, destitute children and students.
The cultural events at the pandal brought Dr Sumita Ghosh, an Officer on Special Duty (Health) with NITI Aayog, from New Delhi to Mumbai. She along with her group presented a detective drama on Saturday evening at the venue. Another admirer of the pandal's traditions is Shubhranshu Singh, a senior executive with Tata Motors Ltd, whose home state is Rajasthan but has married a Bengali. “I have culturally grown into this puja. It has an old world feel and there is not much bling. Besides the spiritual angle, there is also a congregational and social aspect to puja,” he said. Promit Ghosh, a former banker, said that the pandal reminds of the celebrations in small towns and cities. Swaminathan Subramanian, who is a senior executive with a Japanese bank, is a Tamil but has spent his childhood and youth in Kolkata. “Even when I was in London, Dubai and Kolkata, I never missed the Anjali ritual,” he exclaimed.
On Saturday, which marked the seventh day or Navratri Saptami, 'bhog' at the Tejpal Hall consisted of a 'Kichuri', a rice and dal porridge, a dish of potato, pea and cauliflower, a tomato relish, brinjal fritters and 'payesh' which is made of milk and rice. Debashis Roy, treasurer of the puja trust and in-charge of the bhog kitchen, said, “The menu changes every day except for the sweet and 'Kichuri'. The dishes are not repeated as they are first offered to God as prasad.”
