With more and more Indians becoming conscious of conserving the environment, festivals too have been doused in the spirit of environmentalism. Need proof? Check out this Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata which has been designed to raise awareness about the damage cell phone towers cause to birds.
In keeping with the tradition of coming up with novel themes and ideas for pandals, Barisha Club in Kolkata has come up with an important social message. The pandal has been decorated with a dish TV antenna and a faux cell phone tower which is surrounded by the skeletons of dead birds. The pandal is meant to raise awareness of the harmful effects of radiation from cell phone towers on birds, ANI reported.
Inside, the idol of goddess Durga with ten arms has also been decorated in keeping with the social message. Instead of the holy weapons that are placed in thee idol's hands, the Barisha Club Durga has been installed with little birds sitting on her hands.
West Bengal: A #DurgaPuja pandal has been made in Kolkata to depict the harmful effects of mobile towers' radiation on birds. The Durga idol in the pandal shows birds perched on her hands, instead of the goddess' 10 weapons. (03.10.2019) pic.twitter.com/C2mUtRvJsp— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2019
Kolkata is not the only city with pandals sporting social messages this year, especially on the theme of environmental conservation. A puja pandal in East Delhi has installed idols of Durga as well as other deities like Ganesh, Lakshmi, Kartik and Sarawati made from scarp and recycled material.
In Orissa, 115 of the 170 total puja pandals have banned single use plastic this year.