Silchar’s Nilanjana Paul on hopping pandals in Hyderabad: It takes me down to the memory lane

Ten years back when I had set foot on the most famous Durga Puja pandal in Hyderabad for the first time, I was instantly gripped by nostalgia. Having spent almost the whole of my childhood in my native Silchar, 12 years stay thereafter in Bengalis’ very own Kolkata, I was actually missing the resplendent pandals and celebrations with pomp and grandeur which are omnipresent across Silchar and Kolkata during Durga puja festivities.

It took me some years to actually come to terms with the comparatively low key celebrations of Hyderabad.

Now ten years down the line, I can boldly claim that I am enamoured by Hyderabad’s puja and love the euphoria surrounding it. The pujas here are in smaller scale than those big pujas of Silchar and even bigger pujas of Kolkata and these small scale pujas which once failed to appeal me much, are now very much close to my heart and are my only destinations on all the three days of celebration.

I can’t stay away from these pandals as they remind me of the “para pujos” of my childhood days at Silchar which were not enriched by lavish decors and eye catching designs but had an aroma of love, happiness and blissfulness all around.

 

With a view to spending some glorious days of Durga puja this year, I visited four famous Durga puja pandals and got myself completely drenched in the revelery of festivities. On the day of Saptami, I paid a visit to Utsab Cultural Association conducted Durga puja at Meridian High School, Madhapur. It was their 6th year of celebration and I found the decoration to be quite eco friendly going by the fact that more than 1 lakh of old magazines went into decorating the pandal. The idol of Durga sported a different look. The makeshift food stalls outside the pandal gave the foodies the opportunities to dig into Bengali’s favourite street food which are otherwise non-existent in Hyderabad.

This puja continues on all the six days starting from Panchami to Dashami every year. Other than regular pujas, aarti, bhog, pushpanjali etc provision is there for cultural programmes too. A huge makeshift auditorium beside the pandal serves the purpose.

Ashthami was reserved for visiting two of the biggest and oldest Durga pujas of Hyderabad. First I started for the Durga puja organized by Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha in Keyes High School, Secunderabad. It was their 53rd year and they had built the pandal on the theme of Mughal empire. The area of celebration is a huge one and every year they keep the pandal large and ornate. Each year, there is a huge influx of devotees and unlike most other pandals here, the locals are keen to join the bandwagon. Apart from the mouthwatering Bengali street food stalls some interesting stalls didn’t fail to catch my attention – a book stall, a Bengali handloom saree stall, famous Kolkata shoe brand “Sree Leathers” stall to name a few. Just like other puja pandals here too provision is there for staging cultural extravaganza.

Asthami evening saw me in Hyderabad Bengalee Samity conducted Durga puja. This puja is held every year at PVR Convention centre in Lower Tank Bund road. They are celebrating annual puja rituals for the last 76 years and sticking to the tradition is their forte. The idol was transported from Kolkata and artisans from Kumartuli gave the final touches here. Likewise the priests, the dhakis and the artists are from Kolkata. Like all other pandals they too had food stalls and a makeshift stage for cultural programmes.
I spent a quality time in the afternoon of Navami at Cyberabad Bangali Association organized Durga puja in MIyapur. It is their 11th year and the pandal is decorated on the theme of Raj Mahal which has a width of 120 feet and height of 35 feet. Within a short span of time since its inception this puja has become immensely popular and crowds throng in large numbers to participate in the revelry every year. Provision of cultural extravaganza as well as different competitions is there along with regular puja rituals. I stood in a serpentine queue and devoured delectable bhog of basanti pulav and aloo dum before bidding adieu to my this year’s celebration.

Other than these 4 pandals worth mentioning are the pujas of Hyderabad Kalibari of Sainikpuri, Secunderabad and Bengali Cultural Association conducted Durga puja of Banjara Hills.

These Durga pujas of Hyderabad give the Bengalees away from home ample scope to get soaked in the festivities. It takes me down the memory lane and makes me nostalgic. I relive my childhood days of silchar in 1980s when puja was the time to bond, socialize and feel happy and blessed and was free from the external show-offs and over the board pomp and splendour.

Nilanjana is a teacher by profession and this was her Puja story.

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