Kolkata: Former president Pranab Mukherjee’s involvement in Durga Puja in his ancestral village is well known. Pranab Mukherjee use to perform the puja with his own hands. Keeping this in mind a puja committee in the city will play the recital of the shlokas in his voice. They will do so at their puja pandal this year.
Mukherjee had memorised the entire 700 shlokas on the slaying of the demon Mahisasura by the goddess. He would chant them while offering puja at his ancestral home at Miriti in Birbhum district. He had been doing so every year for the past 50 years. This information was given by priests who used to assist him.
Organisers of ‘Aurobindo Setu Sarbojanin Durgapuja Committee’ will be remembering Mukherjee in this manner. They decided to play recordings of ‘Chandipath’ by the Bharat Ratna recipient during the four puja days at the pandal. The decision was taken after his death Monday. It should be stated here that Mukherjee had inaugurated this particular puja a number of times.
“We plan to procure Mukherjee’s voice clip of ‘Chandipath’, which has shlokas which are an ode to Devi Durga. We will get the recording with the help of people close to his family soon. We are sure the recitals will create a divine and solemn effect on revelers. It will also enable people to hear the shloka chantings of the erudite statesman,” an official said Wednesday.
The puja committee is also going ahead with its earlier plan to pay tribute to Satyajit Ray to mark the maestro’s 100th birth anniversary. They will do so by recreating a scene of Pather Panchali in the marquee.
Mukherjee passed away August 31 in Delhi at the Armys Research and Referral hospital where he had been admitted for brain surgery.
