Big budget Durga pujas roping in fashion designers

Fashion designer Tejas Gandhi is designing the costume of the deity of 'Samaj Sebi Sangha Puja'.

"My costume will be a perfect blend of purity of nature and the richness of life and in sync with 'Sobujer Obhijan'(quest for green) theme of the puja this year," Tejas said.

The city-based fashion designer, known globally, will design the costumes of Kartik, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Saraswati as well as the demon Mahishasur.

A puja organiser said, "Tejas Gandhi will be diverting from the traditional ensemble of the goddess and debuting with a very different outfit in accordance with the theme."

"The interior of the puja pandal will be adorned with beautiful craftwork relevant to Sobujer Obhijan which aims at generating awareness among the parents about providing an affectionate upbringing of their children," he explained.

Celebrated fashion designer Sharbari Datta is conceptualising the theme and costumes for the 'Lala Bagan' Sarbojanin Durga Puja, one of the new entrants among award winning crowd puller puja committees.

Joint secretary of the puja committee Partha Ghosh said, "We had requested her (Sharbari Datta) to do the concept and costume designing for our puja and she agreed but refused to take any remuneration."

"We are honoured that she is working with us and bowled over by the first concept which she had presented," Ghosh said.

"The theme of the puja is 'Shunya (void)'," Sharbari said.

Renowned fashion designer Agnimitra Paul is designing the costume of the deities of Santosh Mitra Square Puja, another crowd puller in the city.

"The saree of Goddess Durga is made of gold with zari work embossed in between. I sketched the entire design and now it is being given shape by a reputed jewellery brand," Agnimitra said.

"The dresses of the other idols and Mahisasura are fabric-based and I am making them lively, not dull but at the same time, traditional," she said.

"Infact we are not breaking from tradition, but making the dresses more appealing, sartorially more elegant in an understated manner. Each one's dress will be different from the other in terms of colour but I will heavily draw from the 'sabeki' (traditional) concept.