Cuttack: The Malgodown Puja Committee in the Silver City has planned to build a welcome arch replicating the Statue of Liberty for this year’s Durga puja.
Members of the committee expect that the well-decorated arch would attract large number of people to the puja pandal.
A few years ago, the puja panel had erected an arch replicating the Red Fort. The structure was the centre of attraction for hundreds of people from across the city and many other places in the state, sources said.
Malgodown Puja Committee has been celebrating the puja since 1952. Late Upendra Nath Khuntia and Bhimsen Rana were instrumental in forming the puja committee for Malgodown, the biggest wholesale market in Odisha.
In the initial years, the committee was worshipping clay idols of Hara-Parvati under a thatched structure. The puja panel had constructed a permanent pandal at the behest of its then president Basanta Kumar Roul and secretary Sayed Mustafiz Ahamed in 1983.
This apart, the committee had constructed a temple for Lord Hanuman near its puja pandal in 1996. Apart from Ahmed, two other office-bearers of the panel—Kailash Chandra Patra and Baradakanti Mohanty—played a key role in the temple construction.
Members of the puja committee claimed that they have been organising Ganesh puja, Gajalaxmi puja and Kartikeshwar puja for last several years. “We have been celebrating Hanuman Jayanti and Pana Sankranti for last many years. We usually host an Iftar party for all Muslim traders of Malgodown during Ramadan. Besides, we organise Swami Ayyappa puja for people of Telugu community. Members of the committee provide service to the poor on the occasions of Prathamastami and Kartika Purnami,” said an office-bearer of Malgodown Puja Committee.
It is learnt that the committee has earmarked Rs 17 lakh for this year’s puja. It has engaged artisan Subhas Chandra Parida and Ramachandra Rana of Bidanasi to design a colourful tableau for the festival. “We will erect six gates near our pandal and will decorate the locality with colourful lights,” said a member of the committee.
Malgodown Puja Committee president Kailash Chandra Patra said they would organise orchestra programmes for four days during the festival. “Special focus will be on crowd management and maintenance of law and order in the locality during puja,” Patra added.
The puja committee secretary, Sayed Nizamuddin Ahmed, “We hope people in large numbers will turn up to see the arch replicating the Statue of Liberty which would be built with due diligence,” he added.
