Kolkata: On its 50th year, Camden Centre, Britain's very old puja by Indian expatriates outside the country will celebrate womanhood on Devipaksha. The puja, a stone's throw from Kings Cross station in UK, is patronised by business tycoon Mittal and is a must-see like Baghbazar Sarbojonin and Maddox Square in the itinerary among expatriate Indians during the five-day, representing all generations.
"We strictly go by the dates and timings in London pujas. It is perhaps more rigorous than elsewhere in home as the expatriate Bengalees, always in state of flux, are eager to retain their roots," says Sayantan Das Adhikary, one of the organisers of London puja. The purohit, from the panel of venerable priests in Bengal, is flown to the place every year and each and every ritual is followed. Till last year we used to have idols made of earth, in sync with the tradition, but with logistical problems we have settled for fiberglass idols from 2013," Adhikary, also involved with the much younger 7-year-old Panchmukhee puja said.
About the initiative by London puja organisers to fete Streeshakti, Adhikary said "Six women of substance, three each from West Bengal, the land which worships the Mother Goddess, and abroad respectively, will be felicitated during the puja days for their strides despite odds." "This will be one definitive statement during Debipaksho from the London Puja organisers against incidents of attack on women for which we are all concerned about," Adhikary, one of the directors of Candid Communications, UK and India, said.
"The organisers had asked me to strictly go by traditions as in the overseas they don't like to experiment with idols or any form of celebrations. Pujas are more on the lines of 'bonedi barir utsab' where not a single deviation is allowed. No theme puja, nothing," sculptor Pradyot Paul, having chiselled the Camden puja protima this year, said. "And they go by the puja dates as referred in almanac. No tailoring with weekends," he said.
"It is an interesting sight as you can see the multitudes at the puja mandap. People from earlier generations, as well as the generation next, their friends, those frequenting the commercial hub of London including whites who comprise at least 30 per cent of the crowd. What a fascinating view to see everone having 'prasad' from plate amidst dhak beats inside the hall, Adhikary, said.
Like Kolkata, where puja countdown begins with crowd at shopping centres and bamboo structures coming up in parks and open spaces, in London the organisers Panchamukhee, a puja organised by the techie generations, are initiating a road show from the middle of this month. "We are aiming at the expatrates, most of them hailing from districts in Bengal to chip in for real estate properties in the state in the Beckoning 'India Greens' and other reality majors road show. Also there will be bhalo theko campaign for healthcare of the senior members of the non-residents households living in districts," a Panchammukhee spokesman said.
