Co-operative Durga Puja CR Park, K-BLOCK
Block K Chittranjan Park Rd
Cooperative Ground Durga Puja Samity will be celebrating its 40th Durgaotsav from the 18th october to the 22nd October at the Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Cooperative Ground, K-block, Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi.
In keeping with our practice of theme-based pandals, this year we will portray RESONANCE through a brilliant creative use of sound, light & colours. The Divine appearance of Maa Durga in her rhythmic steps creates a Harmonic Resonance in the atmosphere that flows through our body & soul. We all respond to the divine vibration resonating within ourselves that makes us pure, prudent & harmonious. We learn the metaphor of living by virtue of the wisdom that evolves through these vibrations.
History of Cooperative Ground Durga Puja
While the 1st Sarbojanin Durga Puja in Delhi was celebrated in Timarpur in 1909; this was discontinued after a couple of years & then started again. The Kashmere Gate Puja started in 1910 & continues till date and regarded as the Oldest Durga Puja in Delhi NCR. With increasing settlements of Bengali residents in Delhi few more Durga Puja got added to the list in 50’s & 60’s primarily the prominent one’s like New Delhi Kali Bari, Mata Sundari Road, Karol Bagh Puja.
In 60’s under a special allocated program, Chittaranjan Park by the name of EPDP Colony came into existence. It was assigned as a Bengali Colony and people residing in various part of Delhi moved in to this New Bengali residential area.
The 70’s witnessed the start of Durga Puja celebrations in Chittaranjan Park.
The year 1975, saw the birth of the Cooperative Ground Puja in the Avtaar that we know of it today. This was the year that the Puja started in the present ground albeit it was only by 1997, that the entire ground was made use of.
The year 1994 is significant in the history of our Puja as this is the year when we introduced the concept of Mega Pandals by building a replica of Kolkata’s iconic Victoria Memorial. These were made primarily of stretched cloth on bamboo frame.
Thereafter, other replicas followed :
1995 : Puri’s Jaganath Temple
1996 : Bangalore’s Vidhaan Souda
1997 : Sarnath Temple
1998 : Bangladesh’s Radha Swami Temple
We moved to theme based Pandals from 2004 when we created a record by building a replica of a Cave which resembled the Kedarnath with a waterfall of 60 feet and our Idol was of a height of 24 feet. This record of the tallest Idol in Delhi stands till date.
Other themes followed as did awards :
2005 : pandal built with plates, bowls & cups – awarded Best Pandal & Idol in Delhi from the Times of India (TOI) under their Durga Devi Namastute programme
2006 : once again we were conferred the Best Idol
2007 : our theme of Terracotta Idol & Pandal won us the Best Idol
2008 : was the theme of a yesteryears’ Zamindaari house where we once again won the Best Idol
2009 : TOI made a Special Mention of our Astradaan theme, wherein we had portrayed the various Gods providing the Astra or weapons to the Devi.
2010 : this year we dedicated our Puja to the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore with a depiction of Kunthibaari - his house in Shilaidaha Bangladesh. This won us the Best Pandal.
2011 : Cooperative Ground Puja Samiti, had a wilderness and nature theme. The idol was made of clay from the Ganges & the Yamuna rivers and natural colours (limestone for white & turmeric for yellow) with an artificial waterfall as the backdrop. Mist fans and the sound of flowing water gave the Pandal the feel of a cave. This won us another prize from TOI.
2012 : the theme this year was Bamboos from Bengal & Assam which won us the Best Green Pandal award.
2013 : our theme was the empowerment of women which was inspired by the extreme cases of atrocities against women that took place in Delhi in that year. This was our small tribute to the courage of the women who have stood up to take on the perpetrators. We depicted the courage of contemporary Women in relation to the Mother Goddess & the Female Shakti from Indian mythology.
Over the last almost 4 decades, we have developed a uniqueness that Cooperative Ground Puja Samity is proud of :
Our Innovative themes in both the Idol & Pandal that changes every year
Our strong belief in Eco Friendliness
Our Food Court attracts droves of people, not only nearby residents but from other Puja Committees of Delhi due to it’s varied and delicious offering
Around 15 thousand people eat Bhog every day during the Puja
Over 10 lakh footfalls attracted every year
Last 40 years, we have seen many renown Artists perform at our Puja Ground. Some of them are :
Late Hemanta Mukherjee
Late Manna De
Arati Mukherjee
Amit Kumar
Usha Uthup
Anjan Datta
Nachiketa
Purna Das Boul
Bhakta Das Boul
Indian Ocean
Porosh Pathor
Chandra Bindu
Kolkata Youth Choir & many others
The Cooperative Ground Durga Puja Samity has, over the years, proactively contributed to many CSR activities like :
Provided an ambulance, computers & monetary contributions to local socio-cultural-religious bodies
Paid for the education of 10 under-privileged students
Actively contributed during the various natural disasters
The Puja Samity believes in promoting holistic development of the children of the community and organizes various sports, painting, elocution, singing competitions as well as other interactive events before the Puja celebrations to hone & encourage local talent. This actually precedes the Puja celebrations by more than a month & is extremely coveted, with their participation, not only by residents of Chittaranjan Park but by people all over Delhi.
We maintain the Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Cooperative Puja Ground throughout the year for the community residents to use as a park as well as a playground for the children of the neighbouring residences.
