Lucknow's Durga Puja: A citywide spectacle
Lucknow’s Durga Puja has grown from a small Bengali community celebration into one of the city’s biggest cultural attractions, with more than 250 pujas organised across the city this year. With huge pandals and elaborate themes, the puja has become a visual spectacle with each passing year. This year too puja samitis across the city are in a race to create the biggest, most elaborate pandal with the best theme possible. The largest pandal this year has been set up at the Durga Park in Jankipuram’s Sector E, built on a Ram Mandir theme.
The pandal is 110 feet high, wide and deep, spread over nearly two lakh square feet and houses an 18-foot eco-friendly idol of Maa Durga. Fifty-four artisans from West Bengal have worked on it for nearly three months, using 20,000 bamboo poles. “This is the 32nd year of the puja. The pandal was shifted from near Engineering College Chowraha to Jankipuram because of the increasing number of devotees and the need for a larger space,” Saurab Bandhu Upadhyay, coordinator, Utsav Puja Samiti had shared with us recently.
Other pandals that are drawing visitors with equally distinctive themes include the La Touche Road puja pandal which is recreating a traditional Bengali household for its 85th edition, while the Rabindra Palli Puja Samiti presents a rural Bengal village. The Vikas Nagar puja pandal replicates the Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Model House Gujarat’s Akshardham Temple. The city’s oldest puja at the Bengali Club, continues to keep things understated and traditional and is paying tribute to noted actor Uttam Kumar. “We’re not in the race to be the tallest, highest or largest. Devotees often visit the grand pandals but eventually come to the Bengali Club seeking peace,” says club president Arun Banerjee.
Another talked-about pandal is that of the Sadbhavana Sanskritik Samiti in Sahara Estate, Jankipuram, which is drawing inspiration from Indian folk art, rural life and traditional architecture. “Its ‘Lokchitra and Terracotta Village Temple’ theme that seeks to recreate the visual warmth of village shrines through earthy textures, terracotta-inspired forms and folk motifs. The design underlines the committee’s effort to connect contemporary pandal-making with India’s craft traditions,” shared a committee member.
Ritika Srivastava, a professor at a private university in the city says, "For me, Durga Puja begins with pandal-hopping. It is the most exciting part of the year, one evening, many pandals, good food and the whole city dressed in festive colours. The themes are what make pandal-hopping so exciting"
Where to Go
Jankipuram, Sector E: Ram Mandir theme, the city’s biggest pandal.
La Touche Road/Hewett Road: Bonedi Bari theme, recreating a Bengali mansion courtyard.
Rabindra Palli: Rural Bengal village theme.
Sahara States: Bengali folk-art and village themes.
Vikas Nagar: Dakshineswar temple-inspired décor.
Model House: Akshardham-inspired pandal.
Sahara Estate, Jankipuram: Lokchitra and Terracotta Village Temple pandal
The pandal is 110 feet high, wide and deep, spread over nearly two lakh square feet and houses an 18-foot eco-friendly idol of Maa Durga. Fifty-four artisans from West Bengal have worked on it for nearly three months, using 20,000 bamboo poles. “This is the 32nd year of the puja. The pandal was shifted from near Engineering College Chowraha to Jankipuram because of the increasing number of devotees and the need for a larger space,” Saurab Bandhu Upadhyay, coordinator, Utsav Puja Samiti had shared with us recently.
Other pandals that are drawing visitors with equally distinctive themes include the La Touche Road puja pandal which is recreating a traditional Bengali household for its 85th edition, while the Rabindra Palli Puja Samiti presents a rural Bengal village. The Vikas Nagar puja pandal replicates the Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Model House Gujarat’s Akshardham Temple. The city’s oldest puja at the Bengali Club, continues to keep things understated and traditional and is paying tribute to noted actor Uttam Kumar. “We’re not in the race to be the tallest, highest or largest. Devotees often visit the grand pandals but eventually come to the Bengali Club seeking peace,” says club president Arun Banerjee.
Another talked-about pandal is that of the Sadbhavana Sanskritik Samiti in Sahara Estate, Jankipuram, which is drawing inspiration from Indian folk art, rural life and traditional architecture. “Its ‘Lokchitra and Terracotta Village Temple’ theme that seeks to recreate the visual warmth of village shrines through earthy textures, terracotta-inspired forms and folk motifs. The design underlines the committee’s effort to connect contemporary pandal-making with India’s craft traditions,” shared a committee member.
Ritika Srivastava, a professor at a private university in the city says, "For me, Durga Puja begins with pandal-hopping. It is the most exciting part of the year, one evening, many pandals, good food and the whole city dressed in festive colours. The themes are what make pandal-hopping so exciting"
Where to Go
Jankipuram, Sector E: Ram Mandir theme, the city’s biggest pandal.
La Touche Road/Hewett Road: Bonedi Bari theme, recreating a Bengali mansion courtyard.
Rabindra Palli: Rural Bengal village theme.
Sahara States: Bengali folk-art and village themes.
Vikas Nagar: Dakshineswar temple-inspired décor.
Model House: Akshardham-inspired pandal.
Sahara Estate, Jankipuram: Lokchitra and Terracotta Village Temple pandal
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