Boro Durga to be toned down this year?

No one can forget the 88 foot Durga idol at Deshapriya Park that wowed the masses and put south Kolkata under siege last year. The big news is the puja committee has gone back to the same artisan -Mintu Pal -for their Puja concept this year.However, the organisers are not overreaching themselves and plan to keep the idol and pandal to within the permissible height.Last year, burgeoning crowds to see the mega-size Durga idol had led to a stampede-like situation and the Puja had to be closed to the public on Shashthi.
Club sources assert that they have learnt a lesson from last year and there will be arrangements to avoid a situation like last year. “If the law states that the pandal structure can't be higher than 40 feet, we will stick to that. We will not break the law in any way ,“ said Sudipto Kumar, secretary of the Deshapriya Park Durgotsav puja committee.
The reduced height does not mean that the Puja will be bereft of surprise elements. As per the plan, there will be a huge face of Mahishasura and his ears will be two entry and exit points to the pandal. “The prototype of the fiberglass structure has been made and work is going on,“ said Mintu Pal.