West Bengal: Corona impact on 'khunti' puja, pandal construction

Kolkata: With barely 75 days to go, some Durga Puja organizers have started setting up pandals. Others are busy organising ‘khunti’ pujas (the pre pandal-making event).

Clubs like Ajeya Sanghati at Haridevpur and Chorebagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity in Girish Park have started making pandals, with strict safety protocols in place.

Labourers are wearing masks, maintaining distance, using sanitizers and going through thermal screening.

“Instead of 40 labourers, we have 20 this time. They have been split into shifts, from 8am to 4pm and 4pm to 10pm,” Jayanta Banerjee, secretary, Chorebagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity, said. Echoed Rahul Shaw, member, Ajeya Sanghati club, “There is strict adherence to Covid-19 norms. Both idol-making and pandal works are on.” The idols are less than 12ft so that sanitization and immersion become easier.

Traditionally, it’s the Rathayatra that rings in the festivities with the ‘khunti’ or ‘kathamo’ (the wooden frame on which the idol is built) puja. For the last few years, several big-draw pujas, instead of waiting for the Rathayatra, were performing “kathamo” puja months ahead on the Bengali New Year in April. But the pandemic has changed everything.

Supriyo Chakraborty, general secretary, AE Part I Block Committee, said, “Rathayatra has gone. We need to begin sometime. We will hold ‘khunti’ puja on Sunday.” Behala 11 Palli’s ‘khunti’ puja is on August 15, while Aurobindo Setu Sarbojanin and Sreebhumi will hold ‘khunti’ pujas on Tuesday and next Sunday, respectively.

The pandemic made Ballygunge Cultural Association tweak their plans for ‘khunti’ puja on August 2. “We sponsored lunch for 40 kids of Universal Smile Home. That’s how we celebrated our ‘khunti’ puja this year,” said organizing secretary Saptarshi Basu.

“The ambience is anything but festive. We might make the pandal’s parts in workshops and assemble sometime in September,” said Hatibgan Sarbojonin’s convener Saswata Basu.