Bengalis, Gujaratis celebrate Durga Puja in Silk City

Adi Shakti Tara Tarini near Berhampur, Odisha

BERHAMPUR: They are living far away from their homelands. But, Bengali and Gujarati settlers of Berhampur have been celebrating Durga Puja in their traditional way for years. The Bengalis started celebrating puja for the first time in the Silk City around 79 years ago.  "Durga Puja is an integral part of Bengali culture. We celebrate the autumn festival wherever we reside," said A K Sarkar, president of Adi Durga Puja Committee in the town. The rituals started on Sunday. "As we started the Durga Puja in the town for the first time, we named it Adi (first) Durga Puja," said Narayan Saha, a member of the Bengali community. Some Bengali employees of the erstwhile Bengal-Nagpur Railway organized the first Durga Puja of the community in the railway station area in 1932.

The Bengalis have already established a permanent pandal at Chatterjee Lane, near Old Bus Stand in Barracks. "We have been celebrating the puja on the pandal since 1938," said Ashok Kumar Jana, a member of the puja committee. "Not only Bengali families in the town but also people of other faiths gather here during the puja," said Deepa Rani Chakladar, a Bengali. It's also an occasion for a get-together of all Bengali families in the town. A large chunk of Bengali families are living in the Silk City. "Even though we are living away from Bengal, we are not alienated from the Bengali culture," said P K Sarkar, secretary of the committee. Priests and artists to make the idol are brought from West Bengal. "Our aim is to keep the tradition alive," said Susanta Ghose, another Bengali.

Similarly, Gujaratis celebrate Navaratri too. Gujarati girls perform "Garaba raj" and "Dandia" dances during the period. "We celebrate the festival in our traditional manner even though we have settled here since long," said Naresh Vagheal, a Gujarati the community which has a strong presence in the city.

Source: Times of India

Source: The Sambad

Grand temple of Maa Tara Tarini getting ready for inauguration

Traditional ritualistic inaugural ceremony of the grand new temple dedicated to Goddesses Tara Tarini will be held from March 03-09, 2011. This was decided at a general body meeting of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) which was chaired by the State Law and Rural Development Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh. The new temple on the hilltop was built as part of the measures initiated to transform the hill shrine into a major tourist destination of Orissa. The new temple is unique as it is a modern temple completely built adhering to the tenets of ancient Orissan temple architecture. It is a ‘Rekha' style temple and bears intricate carvings. Sculptor Padmavibhusan Raghunath Mohapatra was the master architect of this modern temple built up in ancient form. Its major building material was sandstone which was abundantly used in the ancient temples of Orissa. Construction of the temple started in 2003. According to TTDB secretary Pramod Panda, the finishing work of the construction is on and within next one-and-half months total construction work of the temple will be completed. The new temple has replaced the old temple of colonial era at the hill shrine. The new Rekha style temple at the hill shrine has an elevation of about 68 ft. above the hilltop. So, it is easily visible from places within a radius of 10 km from the shrine. The sandstone slabs used for the construction of the temple were procured from Ganjam and Nayagarh districts. Like the traditional temples, large black granite slabs were used as lintels for the new temple. These black granite slabs were procured from Buguda region of Ganjam district.

TTDB secretary Pramod Panda further said that the work on the new ghat road to the hill top, which is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 5 crores by the Rural Development Department is also scheduled to be completed by the end of February, 2011. Another ring road being constructed around the Tara Tarini hill is also to be completed by the time.

Source: The Hindu