North Kolkata in the race for highest footfall

Kolkata: Usually known for its traditional Pujas, North Kolkata is in the race for drawing the highest footfall this year, with its stellar themes competing at par with South Kolkata and other fringes of the city.

Purba Kolkata Sarbojanin, one of the premier Pujas of the area, has adopted the theme of 'Appeal', spreading the message of world peace and the need to conserve the environment.

Sreebhumi Sporting, one of the foremost and most renowned Pujas of North Kolkata, has bagged the 'Sherar Shera' award in this year's Biswa Bangla Sharod Samman. The Puja, organised by Minister of State for Fire and Emergency Services and Bidhannagar MLA Sujit Bose, was inaugurated by ace shuttler P V Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand.

"Many people are coming to see our Puja from across the city as we have built up goodwill. There has been a large crowd from the afternoon itself. We are now preparing for the Red Road Carnival," said Sujit Bose.

Traditional Pujas like College Square and Mohammad Ali Park, which are known as crowd-pullers every year, have started seeing large footfall this year as well. Both the pandals have been adorned with elaborate lighting arrangements.

Santosh Mitra Square in Bowbazar is also attracting a significant chunk of pandal-hoppers in the city, thanks to its gold-plated Durga idol. Owing to the pandal being situated in a highly crowded area with narrow roads, the Puja organisers have made elaborate arrangement to ensure smooth passage for the people.

Other premier Pujas of the area include Kumartuli Sarbojanin and Hatibagan Sarbojanin, which was the first Puja inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee this year.

Hatibagan is wooing pandal-hoppers with its unique feature of a camera hidden in the idol of Goddess Durga, which is snapping photos of people who are offering 'pranam' in front of the idol.