Kolkata: Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore is paying tribute to the freedom fighters from Bengal who sacrificed their lives for the Independence of the country through its theme ‘Ahuti’. The concept of the Puja along with the theme song penned by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was released on the occasion of Mahalaya in presence of minister Aroop Biswas who is the chief patroniser of the Puja that has stepped into its 72nd year.
“The country’s freedom movement started from Bengal and many freedom fighters from our state laid down their lives for Independence. We have made an attempt to showcase this through our theme ‘Ahuti’ particularly before our present generation. We have highlighted the contribution of those freedom fighters who were associated with the Anusilan Samity that was founded in 1902 for training in warfare against the British in the garb of a centre for fitness of health,” said Aroop Biswas, minister in-charge of state Power and Sports and Youth Affairs department who is the chief patroniser of the Puja.
Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki, Kanailal Dutta, Binoy Badal Dinesh, Bagha Jatin to name a few were associated with the Samiti who sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom.
Anirban Das, who has conceived the theme, said that the pandal has been designed following the model of prisons in which the freedom fighters were lodged during the British period. Bamboo and plaster of paris have been used for preparing the pandal.
The faces of the freedom fighters have been crafted on the pandal walls through plaster of paris.
The idol of Goddess Durga has been given the form of an embodiment of Shakti that was worshipped by these freedom fighters.Interestingly, this year the club has dedicated a book for the theme note to mark the occasion of its 25th year of theme Puja. “We talk of the advancement of technology now-a-days, however our freedom fighters were so intelligent that they used these types of books to hide their pistol to evade the British. We wanted to showcase this aspect through this book,” said Biswas.
The theme song of the Puja that was also unveiled on Sunday has been penned by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and sung by Jeet Ganguly. Banerjee will inaugurate the idol and the pandal on September 2, following which it will be opened for the pandal hoppers.