The Navjeevan Sangh in Mulund is hosting the Durga Puja on a large scale in the eastern suburbs and has hired sculptors from Kolkata and 12 artisans from Chandan Nagar near Kolkata to do the light work for the pandal.
The Durga idol was sculpted in Vashi some three months before the artists went home . The 12 artisans who looked after the light work then decorated the 70 feet tall entrance with 50000 bulbs. This is the first time, that such a large scale pandal has been organised in Mulund and the light work is expected to be the highlight of Durgotsava.
Many events have been organised as part of the celebrations and the mandal is hosting 25 blind students of Karnataka Blind School from Karnataka who would be performing after Saturday’s Puja. The mandal is also organising the traditional shankh dhwani and ulu dhwani competitions for devotees and mandal members on the eighth day.
Mandal Secretary Debashish Chatterjee said “ Being a resident of Mulund, I always thought why not host Durga Puja in the area so that others can come and have a glimpse of how the festival is celebrated in Kolkata. We are about 175 members, who contributed to this year’s festival. We have organised various functions for the last five days of the festival. We got all the possible things from our hometown so that devotees feel they are in Kolkata. The idea behind having light work was to make devotees feel they are in Kolkata where every nook and corner glows during navratri.”
Apart from the traditional bhog which would be served on the seventh and eighth day, the mandals would serve veg biryani, paneer tikka and sweet dishes on the ninth day.