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2023 Puja Pandals in Kolkata: Melding the divine and the contemporary
Inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Durga Puja in Kolkata is a marvellous meld of the divine and the contemporary, bringing together traditional craftspeople, designers, artists and organisers, who artfully engage with events around us that are of immediate concern, wrapped around a reimagining of the deity. Here are a few pandals that struck us for their immediacy and scale
Image: Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP
An inventive reimagining of the deity Durga on the dome of a puja pandal draws crowds in Kolkata.
Image: Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A circular form and a carefully built-up colour palette make this Durga shimmer at a puja pandal in Kolkata. 
Image: Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A Durga puja pandal T Kashi Bose lane in Kolkata displays a theme of female trafficking and violence on girl children. 
Image: Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A Durga idol inspired—and styled—by folklores of south India at a puja pandal. 
Image: Samir Jana/HT via Getty Images
A Durga Puja pandal depicts disasters in nature and hills caused by human intervention at 33 Pally, Kolkata.
Image: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP
People install artwork on the theme of menstrual hygiene at a pandal in Kolkata.
Image: Samir Jana/HT via Getty Images
A pandal with a theme based on our digital life and its consequences at Beleghata Sandhani in Kolkata
Image: Samir Jana/HT via Getty Images
Kolkata’s colonial architecture takes a delicate hue in artist Sushanta Pal’s hands at Tala Prottoy Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata.
Image: Samir Jana/HT via Getty Images
Earthy fibres, coconut husks and cow dung frame the Durga deity at the puja pandal in 66 Pally Club, Kolkata.
Image: Samir Jana/HT via Getty Images
Ayodhya Ram temple-themed puja pandal at Santosh Mitra Square, Kolkata.
Image: Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Devotees gaze at a pandal with a Disneyland in Paris theme.
Image: Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A large-scale installation dwarfs the Durga idol at the pandal at Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha Club, Kolkata, India.
