8,000 plants used to make green Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata; raises environmental awareness

With rising global warming, puja organisers play their part in generating less waste and speak up about social issues through festivities

Kolkata

The Lalabagan Nabankur Durga Puja Pandal has become one of the most popular pujas in the northern parts of Kolkata after videos of their “green” pandal went viral on social media. They have celebrated their 65th year of Durga Puja with an eco-friendly approach and sustainable celebrations.  

Their theme this year is all about “Nabankur” or new life, which refers to the thousands of saplings in their pandal because as the organisers themselves said “it is not just about loving plants but nurturing them like our children”. The organisers pointed out that Kolkata Durga Pujas have become a lot about splashing money where crores are spent but also leads to a lot of waste generation at the end of the festivities. 

Speaking to The Hindu, Tapas Ray, Secretary of the Lalabagan Nabankur Durga Puja said, “This year the market and budgets have been down due to the protests (referring to R.G. Kar protests), but we could not completely stop the pujas, so we came up with a sustainable plan. Our artist, Prasanta Pal came up with this idea of making the pujas eco-friendly and full of greenery.” 

Mr. Ray said that global warming and acute pollution that is engulfing our planet is a huge cause of concern and that is where the theme originated from. When they started out with the initial idea it was a living nightmare to find a viable way to use small plants and saplings to make a whole pandal. 

“Over months we have collected plants from multiple districts of West Bengal. Our artists and club members have taken the pain to grow and nurture these plants with their own hands. We have used more than 50 varieties of plants like money plant, mushroom, areca palm, and many more,” Mr. Ray said. 

The organisers of the puja also highlighted the overwhelming response they have gotten from the common people. They had no particular promotions or campaigns for their event. Word of mouth and viral reels on social media handles made them popular and thousands of people visited their site even before the gates opened for the public. The expressed their happiness over people from various states like Kerela, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and many other places have set foot in their pandals to see their artwork. 

Published - October 08, 2024 07:16 pm IST