Prasenjit Debnath
An elderly couple made a quick journey down the memory lane standing in front of a replica of Gauri Kund at Bharat Ratna Durga Puja pandal premises on the auspicious Saptami Puja. Bharat Ratna club at Usha bazaar in Agartala, Tripura is famous for its elaborate and gorgeous pandal design.
This year, Bharat Ratna club has decided to construct the puja pandal depicting the famous Badrinath Temple with the snow capped Hills, probably the Garhwal Himalayas, in the backdrop. On the left flank of the pandal, a replica of Gauri Kund is placed.
Identifying them as Mr and Mrs Mukherjee, they said they went to Badrinath Temple, Gauri Kund and Kedernath Temple couple of years ago. For the last two years, like many people, they are unable to travel due to menacing Covid pandemic.
“On the day of Saptami, Bharat Ratna Puja Pandal rekindled one of our fond memories. It is really a good thing. Many people never travelled to see Badrinath Temple – however, people can, at least have an idea of the magnificent temple in which Lord Vishnu is the presiding deity”, Mr Mukherjee said.
One of the famous Char Dhams of hindu pilgrimage sites, Badrinath Temple is located in Uttrakhand. An interesting fact is that even as the temple is located in North India, the head priest of the Temple comes from South India.
Soon a group of enthusiastic youths surrounded Mukherjee couple. After surfing the net and getting details of the Temple, a group of youngsters exalted and said, “Even the influence of supposed Buddhist culture in the original Badrinath Temple has been beautifully recreated by the artists.
The Gouri Kund at Uttrakhand in the Garhwal Himalayas is famous pilgrimage site and several folklores relating to Gauri, the wife of the Lord Shiva are popular among the devotees.
All the intricate designs of the Badrinath Temple and depiction of Gauri Kund were accomplished by the artists of Tripura. Even the idols of Maa Durga and her divine family were created by Agartala Joynagar based clay artisan Jayanta Datta.
“Usually we hire artisans from Bengal. However, this year we are relying on the talents of local artists. Covid affected the economy, so we decided to spend our Puja budget, around Rs 5 lakh, for the benefit of local markets,” Bir Chandra Ghosh vice-president of the Puja Committee said.
As crowd is comparatively less during afternoon, a good number of men clad in bright coloured Punjabi and women in colourful saris came out and hopped around the Bharat Ratna club and other community puja pandal and enjoyed the Saptami.
“Let Maa free us from the Covid Asur. Let the peace across the globe prevail”, a silent chorus of prayer is reverberating all around in Durga Puja in Tripura.
