Durga Puja 2020: Goddess Durga slaying the demon Mahisasura representing the coronavirus
Durga Puja it’s only two days away but this year the extravagant bid Pandalos representing the architectural wonders of the world or the original ones do not exist in West Bengal or anywhere else in the country. The Durga Puja organizers, instead, have chosen the sudden Covid lockdown that sparked the migration crisis and the ‘coronavirus’ as themes for the pandalos. Migrants and the coronavirus have become dominant bid panda themes and decorations in Kolkata and districts. In West Bengal, Durga Puja is celebrated with great fervor and the festivities continue for days.
Durga Puja 2020: People look at the sculpture of migrants in a puja pandal in Kolkata
Artists have tried to capture scenes that had frequently appeared on television, migrant workers with young children walking along the roads, as the main decorative panels of the pandals. Many pandals have paid tribute to the ‘crown warriors’ in blue PPE suits. In some pandals, the goddess Durga is seen destroying Mahisasura, the demon, who looks like the ‘coronavirus’.
Durga Puja 2020: another clay sculpture of a migrant worker in a puja pandal in Bengal
Durga Puja 2020 – A community pandal representing COVID-19 awareness campaigns in Kolkata,
In Kolkata’s Naktala Udayan Sangha, a large community puja, a truck has been placed near the entrance of the pandal with clay models of migrant workers, desperately trying to climb into the vehicle. “Our pandal is called ‘waves’. It reflects the waves of migrants returning from different corners. We have employed migrant workers from different districts to portray the issue,” Anjan Das, an organizer told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Durga Puja 2020: a ‘coronavirus’ themed pandal in southern Dinajpur, West Bengal
Due to the Covid crisis, this year is a low-key Durga Puja in Bengal. Artists and idol makers say the earnings are extremely low, unlike in other years where they made a profit during the holiday season.
Durga Puja 2020: An artist putting the finishing touches on an idol of Goddess Durga
Shaken by the plight of idol makers due to the pandemic, a woman in Asansol has turned to crowdfunding to support 300 clay artisans in the Paschim Barddhaman district. Richa Roy, 29, aims to raise Rs 20 lakh for idol makers in the Asansol, Kulti, Barakar, Chittaranjan and Durgapur areas over the next four and a half months. It has raised Rs 40,000 so far on the crowdfunding platform ” Milaap ”.
(PTI and ANI inputs)
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