Today is Mahalaya Amavasya, an auspicious day that marks the beginning of Durga Puja. At Bengali households, the day starts with the recitation of scriptures, broadcasted on radio and television in the booming voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra. The day is dedicated to prayers for Maa Durga's invocation on earth and people start preparing for goddess Durga's arrival and ensure She gets a grand welcome on Shashthi. Huge pandals are installed, massive goddess Durga idols are worshipped and feasts are prepared on the sixth day of Navratri. We give you the lowdown on some of the oldest Bengali Pujo pandals of Nagpur...Started by the great grandfather of former city police chief PKB Chakravorty during the British Raj, the Durga puja performed at their residence is 143 years old. Daughter of PKB Chakravorty, Dr Mohana Majumdar says, "On the fifth day, we perform the Satyanarayan Puja at home followed by the Durga Pujo starting from Shashthi. My father recites the chandi path and we perform each and every puja at home. Like pandals, we also have dhak performance, dhunuchi naach and sindoor khela. Besides family members, hundreds of people come home during the puja to attend the aarti andsavour bhog."107 yearsInstalled by the Bengali Association , the idol of Goddess is of Ek Chaali pattern and this tradition has been there since the beginning. Made of clay collected from the banks of Ganges, lakhs of devotees visit the school to witness the grand idol of Durga Maa in the company of her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya and daughters Saraswati and Lakshmi. While an exuberant 11-day mela is one big attraction, don't forget to offer pushpanjali on Ashtami savour the traditional bhog here.57 yearsThis year marks the 57th year at Katol Road and the pandal will replicate Bengali architecture this year. The idol of Devi is in the 'paanch chaali' pattern with beautiful decoration in the backdrop. Secretary of the puja committee, Swapan Chakraborty informs, "The footfall every year goes up to 1 lakh and we expect the same this year. Dhak performance by Kolkata based dhakis is something visitors look forward to the most. Also, for Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, the cultural programmes are enjoyed by thousands of people."38 yearsAll the arrangements are looked after the railway officials. One of the members of the puja committee, Dr Sukdev Biswas says, "Besides pushpanjali and evening aarti, which are the main features of puja, there are cultural programmes in Hindi, Marathi and Bengali languages. Also, we serve bhog on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami and over thousands relish the delicacies like khichuri, labda, payesh, tomato chutney and beguni."29 yearsThe venue of the puja committee has been shifted to audit colony, Pratap Nagar, from last year but it didn't affect the number of participation for dhunuchi naach and sindoor khela. One of the members of the committee Mita Talukdar says, "Besides the beautiful idol of Goddess, the cultural performances attract huge footfalls. Youngsters are busy rehearsing for dhunuchi naach. A comedy Bengali play will also be staged this year."This is another popular Bengali committee pujos in Nagpur. The puja used to be organised inside the Maintenance Command, Vayusena Nagar. But the venue shifted to the school during the 1999 Kargil War time. The theme of that year included air force fighter jets and since then, people have witnessed different themes at the venue. This year, the idol of Maa will be in ek chaali pattern.

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