Preparations afoot for Durga Puja in Khulna, Rajshahi

KHULNA, Oct 17 (BSS): The artisans in different places here as elsewhere in the country are passing their busy time to give final touches on the idols just a few days ahead of the Durga puja , the biggest religious festival of the Bengali Hindus .
The five-day Sharodiya Utsab will begin on October 22 and conclude on October 26 through the immersion of idols.
This year, Durga Puja will be held at 982 Mandaps in the city and district maintaining social distance and health safety guidelines, set by the government.
Around 400 idol makers in different puja pandals in Khulna city and district are found busy finishing touches to idols ahead of the Puja.
General Secretary of City Unit Puja Udjapon Parisad Prashanta Kumar Kundu told the news agency that a total of 136 Durga Mandaps will be set up in the city while 846 Durga Puja Mandaps will be erected in all nine upazilas of the district to celebrate the religious festival.
While visiting the largest Dharmasava Puja mandap in the city this correspondent found that artisans are now busy painting the images of Durga to make attractive to the devotees and the visitors.
Talking to the news agency, Ram Prasad, an idol maker of Dharmasava Puja mandap in the city said this year the idol-makers are expected to earn more profit than last year.
He said the cost of raw materials including earth, rope, straw, bamboo and jute, the most essential ingredients of the idols have highly increased this year.
Manash Kumar Ghosh, organising secretary of Dharmasava Puja Mandap in the city, told the news agency that preparations for the idols of Durga have become costlier due to high price of the raw materials and increased charges of idol makers and their relevant companions .
Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) and Khulna District Police authorities have separately taken adequate security measures for smooth and peaceful celebration of the Puja.
KMP commissioner Md Masudur Bhuiyan said all kinds of security measures, uninterrupted electricity supply and traffic management would be ensured for peaceful celebration of Puja festival.
The DC said Puja Committee has been asked to install fire extinguishers in all Puja Mandaps and more than ten devotees at a time are not allowed to visit the pandal and rally on the day of immersion will be prohibited due to Covid-19.
In Rajshahi: The preparation for celebrating the forthcoming Durga Puja, the largest religious festival for the Hindu community, is going on in full swing everywhere in the division.
The works of decorating and painting idols and puja mandaps are going on with much enthusiasm ahead of the festival.
Idol makers commonly known as Pauls are passing their busy days with the finishing touch to the idols of Hindu deities. With only a week left, the Pauls are working round the clock to make sure that the idols are ready in time.
Kartik Paul, who is involved in idol-making profession for over 24 years, has made 34 idols in the last two months and has been working for some others at present. Taka 30,000 to 60,000 are spent for making each of the idols, he said.
He said that about one hundred Paul community people in Rajshahi are now busy with making idols for mandaps and they have already completed 80 percent works.
Swapon Ghosh, a devotee who supervises a puja mandap in Kumarpara area of the city, informed that preparations for the upcoming Durga Puja are on the final stage.