Durga Puja in Kolkata is a time for the city to come together as a cultural melting pot. Often lauded as inclusive and unifying, the city’s biggest festival observes many different types of Puja. A transgender community of Kolkata is celebrating Durga Puja with a unique idol. Instead of the goddess Durga, they worshipped the idol of ‘Ardhanarishwara’, which has not been immersed in the last four years. The Ardhanarishvara idol is the composite figure of the two deities. News agency ANI reported that the idol brings together both Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, each taking one half of the face. “We are celebrating Durga Puja in Garima Griha given to us by the central government for the training purpose of the transgender community. We are happy to celebrate Durga Puja here following all Covid-19 protocols,” the report quoted Ranjeeta, a member of the association of transgender persons, as saying.
At the Garima Griha, the Ardhanarishwara idol has found a permanent house, the Times of India reported. The Puja of Ardhanarishwara started on Thursday, October 7, with Australian consulate general Rowan Ainsworth as the chief guest. For the last three years, it was celebrated at the apartment of Ranjeeta Sinha, who is the secretary of transgender support group Gokhale Road Bandhan and Association of Transgender/Hijra Bengal. “It’s only appropriate that we bring our Durga home to this permanent shelter that has been carved out for trans men and women. For, our God is special — an ‘ardhanarishwar’, moulded by trans persons themselves,” the report quoted Ranjeeta as saying.
The West Bengal government on Wednesday issued guidelines for conducting Puja festivities amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In a detailed press release, the state government outlined various measures pandal organisers, and other groups must undertake to ensure masking, sanitisation and distancing ahead of the Durga Puja rituals and functions. Even so, many pandals in the city have come up with grand themes. For instance, the Sreevumi Sporting Club has replicated the Burj Khalifa and covered their idol of Durga with 45 kg gold. The 145-feet tall Burj Khalifa pandal has special lighting arrangements to give it a majestic look in the night and around 250 workers have built this in two months. Visitors have already started visiting Kolkata’s Burj Khalifa. This year, the theme song has been composed and sung by Jeet Ganguly and Avijeet Bhattacharya.
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