Cuttack: Kazi Bazar Puja Committee in the Silver City is all set to organise a polythene-free Durga puja this year.
The puja panel has decided not to use any type of polythene bags at its puja mandap, sources said.
It is learnt that the puja committee will not organise orchestra programme or any other cultural event during Durgotsav to mourn the demise of its former president Ashutosh Swain a few days ago.
It is believed that a Bengali family had initiated Durga puja at Kazi Bazar around 1,000 year ago. For many years, people of the locality were worshiping the clay idols of Goddesses Durga and Kali during Dussehra.
According to locals, former Chief Minister Bishwanath Das had assisted the puja panel to construct a permanent pandal. Harihar Panda, Shailen Kumar Bose and a few senior members of the committee had also played a major role to build the pandal, sources said.
The committee has been worshiping the clay idol of Devi Durga since 1971. It had arranged a silver tableau for the Goddess in 1997. “Kazi Bazar Puja Committee was the third puja panel in the Millennium City to design a silver tableau. Around 1.8 quintal silver was used to design the tableau,” said a member of the puja panel.
According to him, the committee has earmarked `4 lakh for this year’s Durga puja.
The institution usually organises Sindoora Khela near its pandal on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra. Women from the locality participate in the event and smear vermilion on each other’s forehead wishing longer lives for their husbands.
Apart from Durga puja, the committee has been organising Kali puja, Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja and Kartikeshwar puja for last several years. The panel has designed a silver tableau for this year’s Laxmi puja in which around 35 kg silver has been used, sources said.
“We have made all arrangements for a smooth Durga puja. Our puja committee has been felicitated by the district administration for organising incident-free Dussehra and immersion ceremony,” said Kazi Bazar Puja Committee president Subhas Krishna Sarkar.
Committee secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha said they would take adequate steps to facilitate a smooth darshan for the devotees.