![]() The idols are also usually decorated according to the traditional ‘Sholar Saaj’ style. “Preparations for festivals take place only after consulting the panjika ( the Hindu astronomical almanac),” revealed Guha. Singer Samadipta Mukherjee performing at the Kalibari The NBCA has left no stone unturned to make Puja celebrations look and feel more authentic. Conserving the ‘Shabekiyana’ of Puja Celebrations Agencies We also arrange Bengali language classes for those who are interested,” shared Guha. Apart from this, we have been holding art, dance, and alpona competitions every year. We have several categories like ‘Best Pandal’, ‘Best Pratima’, ‘Best Dhaki’, etc. We also started a programme called ‘Jaago Durga’ that celebrates several aspects of Durga Puja. “We arrange the tarpan (a ritual where devotees offer homage to departed ancestors) every Mahalaya. Apart from hosting lavish Durga Puja celebrations, the Kalibari has introduced several initiatives to preserve Bengali culture. Other celebrities such as KK, Usha Uthup, and Bappi Lahiri had been invited in the subsequent years. That was one of the first milestones,” recalled Duari. “We were able to invite Manna Dey, the legendary Bengali singer in the early 90s. However as the years went by, the celebrations became more grand scale. “We engaged in DIY (do it yourself) before it became cool,” chuckled Duari. "I had to light pieces of wood and cook entire meals from scratch. Niladri Duari, the Executive Member of the Kalibari reminisced how in the initial years, he had to cook the ‘pujor bhog’ (food served at the Durga Puja) consisting of ‘khichuri’, ‘polao’, ‘ aloo phulkopir dalna’ etc. So the members of NBCA had to be hands-on with festive preparations. In the initial years, there was a shortage of manpower and funds. Our founders had to roam around from door to door asking people to attend the festival and donate,” recalled Guha fondly. “Back then we had very few people attending the events. In a candid adda, Satyaki Guha, secretary of the Noida Kalibari got nostalgic about the good old days. Under the same roof, it hosts both a Radha -Krishna (Vaishnavism) mini temple as well as a Kali and Shiva temple (Shaivism ), thereby uniting both schools of Hindu beliefs. Since then the temple, has become a formidable source of Bengali Hindu religious traditions. The foundation of the Kali Mandir was laid on 16th August 1986.
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