KOLKATA: Durga Puja Nepalese Style

Tridhara Sammilani to celebrate the 63rd year of its Durga Puja with Nepal as its theme

FROM KOLKATA MIRROR

NEWS SHARED BY DIPAK SHRESTHA

Nepali wood carving

Tridhara Sammilani located at the junction of Rashbehari Avenue, Monohar Pukur and Mahanirban Road is celebrating the 63rd year of Durga Puja with Nepal as its theme. This year the puja will be called “Tridhara’r Trisharanang’’, keeping in mind the three tenets or sharana’s of Buddhism.

They plan to represent the amalgamation of both the cultures, Hinduism and Buddhism that are predominant in Nepal. Apart from the unique fusion of the contrasting cultures, they wish to recreate the beauty of art and culture of Nepal in Kolkata.

“We have chosen Nepal for two reasons – firstly we want to send across the message that Gorkhas are an integral part our community and we want peace in such tumultuous times. Secondly, we want to unveil the beauty of the art of Nepal, which will augment the tourism opportunities,” declared Debshish Kumar, general secretary, Tridhara Sammilani.

Nepal has three durbar squares Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. During 13th century onwards, the Malla dynasty kings ruled Nepal and it was called the golden period of Nepal due to its rich cultural and traditional heritage. The Newari form of architecture comprising red bricks and sal wood carvings and inlays and intricate metalwork came into being from this period.

Eminent artist Dipak Ghosh who is the mastermind behind the designing said, “Different elements have been taken to form a consolidate whole. The five-storied temple structure is the replica of the Yakshewar Mahadev Temple in Bhaktapur, the figurine of the goddess Durga has been inspired from the four-headed Nepalese deity Taleju Bhavani carved on the golden gate of Taleju temple in Bhaktapur square. An idol of Mahadev will be also co-existing based on the Kal Bhairav idol in Kathmandu.”

The architecture and ambience of the Hiranya Garbha Temple of Patan will be incorporated to give a Buddhist feel. There will be a replica of the Kumari House of Kathmandu, made of thermocol, where a ‘kumari’ or ‘vestal virgin’ will be worshipped as living manifestation of the goddess. The Gorkha style puja known as “Dassain” will be performed along with Bengali rituals.

At the onset of Mahalaya, seeds of maize will be planted in soil and as festival days go by they will grow and be offered to the goddess, certain weapons will be kept in a golden pitcher as a mark of Shakti and worshipped. A Gorkha Pundit will be invited from Nepal to perform all the rituals and a Newari girl will be present for the kumari Puja.. Besides that a statue of Raja Bhupatindra Malla will be seen sitting on a lotus pedestal in front of the fibre structures.

Suresh Man Shrestha, the consulate-general of Nepal was happy to extend a helping hand in organising the puja. He said, “The cultural and geographical boundaries of India and Nepal are interspersed. There are many Nepalese who follow Hinduism, they visit the Gangasager every year so I would like that more Indians should also visit Nepal as Durga descended from the Himalayas.”

There will be a number of stalls set up selling Nepalese food and handicraft items. The Nepal tourism council and private organisers will also put up several stalls to promote the tourism of Nepal.

Maitrayee Ray, public relation officer, Nepal Tourism Board, informed, “2011 will be celebrated as the Nepal Tourism year. There are many unknown destinations of Nepal which people are not aware of; the puja is good opportunity to let people know about those places. Tourists can explore more places of Nepal and not just restrict themselves to visiting Pokhara and Katmandu.”

The tourism board will also organise contest for pandal visitors and the winner will win a trip to Nepal, courtesy Nepal Tourism.