Chandannagar: With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sanctioning Rs 106 crores for laying of underground electric cables to eliminate a total power cut during the Jagaddhatri Puja celebrations here, organisers of the puja pandals and pandal-hoppers cannot hold back their excitement.
One of the primary attractions of this age-old four-day festival celebrated here with great pomp and show is the gorgeous and spectacular lighting that draws visitors from all over the world. Even the surrounding areas are garlanded with lights during the puja.
These days, the use of high-quality LED lighting has upped the aesthetic game, making it look like an international celebration of sorts. This festival is also the reason that several local artists gained fame and popularity.
Sridhar Das, Tarak Sheth, Babu Pal and Ashim Dey have now become household names with their lighting game making headlines everywhere.
The lighting craze paved the way for a self-reliant industry here, providing employment to a major chunk of the population and helping them explore creativity like nothing else. The lighting content, pattern and design are decided much ahead of the puja celebrations. After that, it is moulded into an iron or fibre structure and presented through 3D animation.
The lighting procession is an absolute delight to watch. The sheer, joy and excitement give way to an adrenalin rush that one can never feel unless one has stood there. From kids to the elderly, everyone feels ecstatic as they walk past roads emboldened with lights.
What Are Puja Organisers Saying? Chandannagar Bagbazar Jagaddhatri Puja member Bimalendu Sarkar and Assistant Treasurer Amiya Kumar Saha have been associated with this festival for more than seven decades now. ETV Bharat spoke to organisers of the Bagbazar Jagaddhatri Puja Commitee, the ones who brought the first string of bulbs to Chandannagar.
"Mahakali Electric, Howrah brought the first bulb lights here and Bagbazar Jagaddhatri Puja Committee were the first to use them through the hands of the talented Sridhar Das. Lights were designed on canes. The lighting industry here began its journey with gas light, day-light and multiple other types of lamps and later moved to string lights," the members said.
ETV Bharat spoke to artist Sridhar Das who said that he was always always thinking of ways to take the lighting industry of Chandannagar to new heights. "The history of lighting in Chandannagar should not be forgotten. One must remember the star sheets of Chinsurah. As long as the artisans of Chandannagar are alive, there will always be lights here," Das said.
Artist Ashim De is one of the pioneers in this industry as he introduced LED lights here in 1988. Adding another feather to the cap, artist Babu Pal later created a cap on the LED to reduce its brightness. Currently, various types of LED lights are available in the market, with consumers going crazy about them.
"Gas lights, hatchbacks, day-lights were paraded in Chandannagar since the French era. Later, string lights, bulbs and now LEDs have gained popularity. I introduced LED lights here and I remember back then, only blue LEDs were available," Dey told ETV Bharat.
Live Streaming For The 1st Time: For the first time, the Central Puja Committee in Chandannagar has decided to carry out Facebook live streaming of the Jagaddhatri Puja procession allowing visitors from across the globe to witness the spectacular procession of Jagadhhatri idols of various Puja committees without being physically present.
The procession of idols will be carried out from the evening of November 11 and it will continue till the wee hours of November 12. The Jagaddhatri Puja falls on Friday (November 8).
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