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CR Park’s Durga Pujas Grow Into Delhi’s Major Festival Destination
Durga Puja in CR Park began as a small celebration among neighbours.
The area has grown, and now around 10 big community pujas attract lakhs of visitors.
Organising these events costs a lot of money, and businesses now pay much of the bill at Kali Mandir.
The celebrations include large meals, performances and decorated pandals.
CR Park’s workshops also make hundreds of idols for celebrations in many places.
Some residents welcome how large the festival has become.
Others worry that it feels less like a close community celebration than it used to.
They also say the crowds and commercial activities can take attention away from worship and local performers.
CR Park’s Durga Puja celebrations have grown from small neighbourhood gatherings to around 10 major community pujas drawing lakhs of visitors from Delhi-NCR.
Kali Mandir’s annual puja budget is about Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore; other major pujas spend around Rs 80-90 lakh.
At Kali Mandir, corporate sponsorships cover about 70% of the budget, with residents contributing the rest.
The Kali Mandir workshops now make more than 800 idols annually for committees in Delhi-NCR, elsewhere in India and overseas.
Some longtime residents say commercialisation, large crowds and celebrity-led programmes have weakened the festival’s community and devotional character.
- Who
- CR Park residents, puja committees, sponsors, artisans and visitors from Delhi-NCR.
- What
- Community Durga Puja celebrations that have expanded in scale, cost and attendance.
- Where
- Chittaranjan Park (CR Park), Delhi, including Kali Mandir, Mela Ground and K-Block.
- When
- The story describes changes since the 1970s; this year's celebrations were due to begin on October 16.
- Why
- The celebrations grew as CR Park's population and visitor numbers increased, with corporate sponsorship helping fund the larger events.
Concerns about change
Scale and support
Commercialisation
Concerns about change
Longtime resident Devyani Rudra says paid stall space and corporate sponsorship have made the festival more commercial.
Scale and support
Organisers describe large budgets for pandals, meals, programmes and logistics; at Kali Mandir, sponsors fund about 70% of the budget.
Cultural programmes
Concerns about change
Rudra says local performers are no longer promoted as much, with popular reality-show stars and singers brought in instead.
Scale and support
Organisers say the cultural programmes include a range of performances, with artists brought from Kolkata and Mumbai.
Community and devotion
Concerns about change
Rudra believes the growing crowds and entertainment focus have weakened the festival’s intimacy and devotional character, and raises safety concerns.
Scale and support
The article describes the growth in community pujas, shared meals and local idol-making as part of the expanded celebrations.
Key facts
- CR Park population
- Nearly 50,000 residents
- Major community pujas
- Around 10, in addition to private household celebrations
- Kali Mandir annual budget
- Around Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore
- Other major puja budgets
- Around Rs 80-90 lakh annually
- Kali Mandir funding
- About 70% corporate sponsorships and 30% individual resident contributions
- Kali Mandir bhog service
- At least 7,000 people served in about four hours on one afternoon
- Kali Mandir workshop production
- More than 800 idols produced annually
Quotes
Devyani Rudra
A longtime CR Park resident recalling the early community celebrations.
“In the 1970s and 80s, the celebrations relied entirely on personal resident contributions. We would go door to door collecting chanda. Back then, the pandals cost Rs 1 lakh or Rs 2 lakh. But now, that will not cut it.”
indianexpress.com
“The bhakti of the festivities is getting lost, and the present generation no longer understands that.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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