By Firstdespatch Desk Oct 06, 2022
Agartala, Oct 5: The celebration of Durga Puja has always been grand in Tripura, which passed off peacefully. After two years of dull and restricted celebration due to Covid pandemic, this year puja was celebrated with pomp and gaiety with the participation of common people with pent up excitement.
Durga Puja in Tripura has increased by 330 from 2176 to 2506 this year, said Assistant Inspector of police (AIG), Jyotisman Das Chowdhury.
Theme-based marquees have dominated the community Durga Pujas of the Tripura capital while the rural areas of the state prefer the traditional ones.
The big-budget puja committees have themed their marquees on Varanasis Kashi Vishwanath temple, Meenakshi temple of Tamil Nadu, and Jaroa, the primitive tribe of Anadaman among others.
Shiv Nagar Modern Club has built its marquee based on the Kanshi Viswanath temple.
Dipak Saha, one of the puja organisers of the club, said, "We are always on the look for newer themes.We have chosen our theme to be the Kashi Vishwanath temple, situated on the western bank of the holy Ganga River in Varanasi. Our club has always been worshippers of Lord Shiva”.
Organisers said the theme-based pujas act as crowd pullers as opposed to the traditional ones.
Netaji Play Forum, a big-budget puja committee in the town has spent over Rs 40 lakh to build the Ram Mandir of Ajodhya
"We based our marquee on the Ram Mandir as we think it will act as a crowd puller. A lot of people have thronged our marquee in the first few days and we expect more people in the coming few days," secretary of Netaji Play Forum, Gautam Paul said.
The marquee is made of bamboo, polystyrene, wood and cardboards.
Another Durga Puja committee, Azad Hind Club has spent Rs 35 lakh to build the replicas of the livelihood of the Jaroa community in Andaman Island.
"Many people had requested us to build our marquee themed on the primitive tribe and people overwhelmingly accepted the theme”, said a puja organizer.
All the big-budget community pujas have hired artisans from West Bengal for making idol and lighting.
Though Saptami marks the beginning of Durga Puja but every year devotees fill the pandals from Sashti itself. However, this year is different since people have started pandal hopping, three days before the official start. Their excitement can be witnessed in the beautiful decorations, huge pandals and streets adorned with decorative lights, with no corners to spare.
The state government spent more than Rs. Five crore to maintain the roads and decorate the city. 6 important roads were decorated with tiranga lights, road repair, installation of flood lights and facilities of cranes and trolleys were arranged in Dashami ghat for smooth conduct of immersion.
To meet the demands of common people, most clubs had opened their pandals on Chaturthi and Panchami. The pandals of different clubs were inaugurated by many important people including the Chief Minister of Tripura and other political leaders.
As the streets are usually swarmed with people every year, Police installed more than 100 CCTV cameras and assigned 200 police vehicles to patrol the streets during Durga Puja, Das Chowdhury said.
Besides the police force, 1500 personnel of state paramilitary Tripura State Rifles (TSR), scouts and guides and NCC members were deployed to maintain the security and discipline in the state.
Last year’s puja celebration was marked with communal tensions following religious vandalism in Bangladesh. This year, number of pujas was organized jointly with the members of Hindu and Muslim community in many places.