West Bengal Governor and city celebs play dhak to inaugurate Manicktala Chaltabagan `Dhak Utsav’
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar inaugurated the Chaltabagan `Dhak Utsav’ by playing the dhak with BJP MP Roopa Ganguly, actor turned TMC MP Dev and other celebrities and foreign Consul Generals to formally launch the Pujas festivities at the ITC Royal Bengal here on Wednesday in collaboration with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
A sketch of Gandhi ji was also presented to the Governor on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti by Sundeep Bhutoria, Chairman, Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja Committee, along with Arindam Sil and actress Koel Mullick.
Addressing the audience the Governor said that the Puja festivities is a matter of our spirit and for the whole world to see. Similarly, we should not keep Gandhi ji in a political cage or confine him to a single country, he said.
“Not even a single country is there on the Earth where the culture and tradition is celebrated as in Bengal,” said the Governor.
“Chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, had started her first day of Durga Puja inauguration on September 27 with Chaltabagan Durga Puja and today we had the Hon’ble Governor, Shri Jagdeep Dhankar, to inaugurate our Dhak Utsav for Chaltabagan Puja,” said Sundeep Bhutoria.
Atul Bhalla, Area Manager ITC Royal Bengal & ITC Sonar, said: “Dhak Mahotsav celebrates the indigenous musical heritage of Bengal which is integral to Durga Puja. This is in keeping with ITC Hotels philosophy of `Responsible Luxury’ as we pay tribute to the cultural heritage of the region."
Eminent diplomats, artists, musicians, industrialists, sportsperson and people from different walks of life were present at the function, including the consul generals of Germany, Russia, France and Italy. Among others present were industrialist H M Bangur, Arindam Sil, Koel Mullick, June Maliah, Rashid Khan, Pt Tejendranarayan, Chaiti Ghoshal, P K Banerjee, D J Akash, Dibyendu Barua, Dr Pranab Dasgupta, Nayantara Pal Choudhuri and others.
Baul songs, dhunuchi dance, sankha dhwani (blowing of conch shells) and playing of dhaks created a cultural ambience to formally mark the launch of Puja festivities.
The theme for this 77th year at Chaltabagan Durga Puja is “Panchajanya” sail boat or “Sonar Tori”. According to Mahabharata, Lord Krishna blew his conch Panchajanya to mark the conclusion of Kurukshetra war and bloodshed and announce peace.
Manicktalla Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja is being celebrated since 1943. It has been able to maintain its unique artistic identity by presenting new themes that are beautiful, innovative, and environment friendly.
(Reporting by Anisha Thapa)
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