Kolkata, Oct 9 (PTI) Two popular committees in Kolkata have featured in the Durga Puja Carnival that was held on the Thames river in London held with some pujas from the UK .
Boats carrying idols of the UK pujas and cutouts of the idols of the two pujas from the city of joy sailed from Westminster Pier to the downstream and back on the Thames on Saturday.
The carnival was watched by Londoners and tourists who stood at different places along the bank, according to a spokesperson of Heritage Bengal Global (HBG), a UK-based group of the Bengali diaspora.
The two Kolkata pujas are the Baghbazar Sarbojonin, which is over 100 years old and known for its traditional ‘shabeki’ idol, and the Bhawanipur 75 Palli.
The boats were adorned with colourful masks of Chhau dancers of the state’s Purulia district. It touched important landmarks — Westminster, the London Eye, the Embankment, St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge, the HBG spokesperson said.
“We’re proud participants of the carnivals on Red Road in Kolkata and river Thames in London on the same day,” 75 Palli spokesperson Subir Das told PTI. “We’re happy to represent Bengal and showcase the culture and heritage of Bengal.” The theme-based puja had got the Biswa Bangla award for upholding Bengal’s heritage, Das said.
From the UK, the Camden and Birmingham Bengali Association Midlands pujas participated in the event.
“This initiative is brilliant to bring Kolkata and London closer,” the spokesperson said.
The Bengali diaspora in the UK along with a few like-minded people from Kolkata have launched the HBG, which seeks to rediscover the past glory in cultural inheritance of Bengal and promote it across the world. PTI SUS HMB
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