Rs 700 crores! How Durga Puja in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar is getting grander

Be it the ornaments of goddess Durga, the tableaus or the decorative gates in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, they speak volumes about the amount of money being pumped into making the pandals. 

Considering the ever-increasing budget of puja pandals in the twin cities, it seems as if the puja committees are vying with each other to make the grandest pandals. And this competition is only increasing every year. If this year’s puja budgets of both cities are put together, it is estimated that it would be nearly Rs 700 crore. 

A close look at the pandals in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar will reveal that puja committees in the Silver City are laying emphasis on goddess’s ornaments and tableaus and their counterparts in the capital city are making a point of making the pandals & gates awe-inspiring. 

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At every mention of Durga puja, the pictures of silver tableaus in Cuttack instantly come before our eyes. Chaudhury Bazar Puja Committee has the distinction of being the first committee to come up with a silver tableau, using four quintals of silver. This was in the year 1956. Later, they started decorating the idol of the goddess with gold ornaments. 

This year, the idol is glittering with gold ornaments weighing 40 kilograms. The committee says they would make the entire tableau of gold in the coming years. 

“Since Cuttack is synonymous with filigree work, we are eager to transform the silver tableau into a gold one in the coming years and we have already started working for that,” said Purna Chandra Singh, secretary, of Chaudhury Bazar Puja Committee. 

This year, the puja budget in Cuttack has increased by 30 per cent. This year, there are 34 gold and silver tableaus, up from 32 last year.

While Rs 250 crore was the budget last year, this year, it has reached about Rs 325 crore. Similarly, with Tulasipur and Ramgarh puja committees joining this year, the number of total tableaus has reached 176. 

“After 76 years, this year Mangalabag Puja Committee has come up with a gold tableau,” said Nrusingha Choudhury, president, of Mangalabag Puja Committee.

If the pandals at Old Station Bazaar, Nayapalli, Sahid Nagar, Badagada, Jharpada and Laxmisagar in Bhubaneswar are visited, one would become convinced that outer decoration is the main focus of the puja committees. 

While this year’s budget of Sahidnagar Puja Committee is around Rs 1 crore, Rs 40 to 50 lakh is spent on the entrance gate alone. Around Rs 80 lakh has been spent on the entrance gate at Station Bazaar. 

“The costs of bamboo and labourers have increased manifold. This apart, we have to bear their transportation cost and boarding and lodging expenses. So it is natural that the budget of the mandap has increased,” said Manoranjan Das, advisor, Sahid Nagar Puja Committee.    

Speaking about the puja budget of his committee, Amaresh Jena, a member of the Old Station Bazar Committee said, “This year, we earmarked Rs 80 lakh for the budget of the entrance gate. The weight of gold ornaments has increased by 150 grams this year. In the coming years, we will increase gold ornaments.”

This year, there are a total of 187 goddess Durga tableaus in Bhubaneswar. Of them, six are gold and silver ones. Similarly, the budget has also gone up, touching around Rs 350 crore.