Mamata's Santhali poem to be theme of puja pandal in Bhowanipore

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's poem in Santhali language will be the Durga Puja theme at Swadhin Sangha in Bhowanipore. The puja organisers will showcase the development of the tribal population under the leadership of the Chief Minister in the last seven years.

The theme will also delve deep into the life and culture of the tribal population,

which is unique in a number of ways.

"The Chief Minister's Santhali poem Joy Jitkaur Deban Mena (say we shall overcome) acknowledges the contribution of the Santhals in the freedom struggle of the country. However, their sacrifices have not received the honour they deserved. It was under the leadership of our Chief Minister that this tribal population, spanning mainly across the districts of Bankura, Birbhum, West Midnapore, Jhargram and Purulia has witnessed a major development in the sphere of education and healthcare. They have also been employed through various schemes of the government. We are portraying their life, culture and activities through our theme this year," said Ashim Kumar Bose, the general secretary of Swadhin Sangha.

The poem will be rewritten in Bengali language through engraving on the wooden structure of the pandal. Apart from the life and culture of the tribal population, the story of the Santhal Rebellion, their various festivals and their hunting activities will come alive through different models.

It may be mentioned that the Santhals had also worshipped Goddess Durga during the rebellion.

Subrata Dey and Raja Chakraborty will be designing the pandal, maintaining parity with the theme with hogla leaves, barks of trees, leaves of maize, earthen pots and oil lamps. Santhal adivasis will be present in the pandal with their typical musical instruments like dhamsa and madol, for entertaining pandal-hoppers.

A fibre statue of Sidhu Kanhu, prominent leaders of the tribe, will be carved out just outside the main pandal. Krishna Chandra Pal from Krishnanagar in Nadia district is making the idols of the puja matching with the theme. The theme music for the puja will also be composed in Santhali language.

This is the third time the puja committee is using poems of Banerjee as their theme. Last year their theme was the Chief Minister's poem Sobuj (The Green).The message of preserving greenery without chopping down trees indiscriminately, which was propagated by the puja committee, was a big crowd puller.