PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Oct 18: The steel city is gearing up for a grand Kali Puja celebration after a gap of two years. Jamshedpur witnesses more than 20 major Kali Pujas. Of them, five to six are big-budget Pujas.
In keeping the tradition, members of the Young Boys’ Club at Telco are again ready to awe pandal-hoppers with the sheer size of their idol. Standing tall at 22 ft, the goddess is expected to evoke a mixed feelings of joy and fear. The budget for this year’s Puja is over Rs 4 lakh.
It was back in 1976 that club patron P.K. Ghosh had a dream where the goddess asked him to worship her. Since then, the club has been maintaining the tradition of making idols as tall as 22ft.
“Usually, Puja committees concentrate on Durga Puja, but our members wait for Kali Puja,” said a senior functionary of the club adding that the puja had lost its grandeur for the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Artisans from Kharagpur in neighbouring Bengal have been entrusted with the task to make the idol. They began work the day after Dashami and are now adding the finishing touches.
The idol, being made at a cost of around Rs 1 lakh, will be taken to the pandal in a trolley so that the entire city gets a glimpse of it. Cultural programmes have been lined up.
This year Kali Puja would be celebrated on October 25, Monday.
