Lotus Boulevard Sanskritik Samity(LBSS) comprises a group of residents who are deeply connected with the culture of Bengal and with India’s one of the largest community-driven festivals, Durga Pooja.
As in the past few years, LBSS celebrated its seventh consecutive ‘Durgotsav’ from 20 to 24 October at the Banquet Hall. This year too, LBSS worked hard as a cohesive team to make the celebration memorable for all residents, neighbours and guests.
Durga Puja is more than just an annual religious festival; it is a celebration of life, our culture, our popular customs, and traditions. In line with this, LBSS started the event in a unique style by inviting a few senior citizens from an old age home managed by Manop Foundation, located in Sector 112, Noida for the inauguration of this auspicious festival.It was indeed a touching sight to see their smiling faces as they lit the diyas to welcome Goddess Durga.
This year’s five-day ‘Durgotsav’ was packed with mesmerizing cultural events by the in-house talent. ‘Anandamela’ was the first event where LBSS members showcased their culinary skills by preparing and selling delicious homemade dishes at nominal rates.The spread of menu featured famous dishes from all over India, such as the Malabar Chicken Fry from Kerala to authentic sweets of Bengal.
The competitive events for the little ones included drawing, fancy dress and quiz which received enthusiastic response and participation. The next event was the fashion show, ‘Bong Dhong’. The theme was ‘RED’ which symbolised strength, passion, vibrance and confidence of this dynamic community. Needless to mention, that it stole the show, as the participants cat walked the ramp with élan!
Next, was a dance performance, ‘Bollywood Tadka’ that showcased the iconic scenes and dialogues from the 1980s Bollywood hits. As expected, it left the audience spellbound.
The ‘Dhunuchi Dance Competition’ was equally enjoyable.
The members proved their multi-faceted talent in events such as the play ‘Devir Mortye Agomon’, another one by the kids ‘Joota Abishkar’ and recitation ‘Kotha Nupur’.
The musical shows like ‘Tribute to A. R. Rahman’ and Kids Live Band ‘Cocktail Melody’ enraptured the jam-packed hall! The icing on the cake was the rocking dance performances on Dashami where the members performed the ‘Lazy but Crazy’ dance. This grand finale featured kids as young as 3 years!
‘Durgotsav’ was celebrated in a mindful, responsible and eco-friendly manner. As all past events, this year’s celebration was a completely ‘Plastic-Free’ event. Paper plates were used for Bhog distribution, biodegradable materials used for all puja-related rituals.
The idol was made of pure clay and organic colours without the use of any chemicals.
The celebration ended on Bijaya Dashami with a traditional ‘Sindoor Khela’, the vermillion game, where all the ladies dressed in traditional white sarees with red borders with ‘Boron’ and put Sindoor on each other.
With folded hands, they bid farewell to the goddess, praying, ‘Asche Bochor Abar Eso Maa!’- ‘Mother, next year come again!’
Goddess Durga’s idol was immersed in an artificially created pond in an eco-friendly manner. Due to such uniqueness, ‘Durgotsav 2023’ was featured in both print and digital media like The Hindu, Zee 24 Ghanta (Live Telecast), Dainik Bhaskar, Ananda Bazar Patrika to name a few!
