Kolkata’s famed Durga Puja celebrations have reached a new level of spiritual spectacle with the unveiling of the Chetla Agrani Club’s pandal, which features an extraordinary art installation of the ‘Samudra Manthan’—the mythological churning of the ocean.
The centerpiece of the pandal, themed “Amrit Kumbher Shondhane” (In Search of the Nectar), is an awe-inspiring depiction of the divine episode, created using an astonishing over three crore Rudraksha beads.
Visitors entering the pandal are transported into the heart of the ancient epic, where the gods and demons churned the cosmic ocean for the nectar of immortality. The sheer scale and intricate craftsmanship of the artwork, particularly the use of the holy Rudraksha seeds, has instantly made the pandal a must-see for the Durga Puja season.
The main attraction is a colossal Shivalinga and the surrounding Manthan scene, entirely fashioned from the sacred beads. This unique concept not only pays tribute to the Samudra Manthan but also draws inspiration from the Bengali novel ‘Amrit Kumbher Shondhane’ by Samaresh Basu.
Chetla Agrani, a prominent and highly popular Puja in South Kolkata, is renowned for its innovative and thematic presentations every year, and this year’s bead-crafted masterpiece is set to draw massive crowds throughout the festive period.
Live performances by artists from places like Allahabad and Varanasi, playing the damru and tasha, further enhance the immersive, spiritual ambiance of the incredible display.
