Geneva Puja preparations

It is that time of the year again,

when we welcome and bring home Maa Durga in our hearts,

no matter how far we may be from our homes.

We tuned in to Kolkata LIVE radio through our laptops,

to listen to AIR broadcast of Mahishashur Mardini by Birendra Krishna Bhadra

for Mahalaya at 12:30 am, Geneva time,

what better way to commence the festivities!

The photos in this post were taken on the last day of

decorations; this year, we put together a very pretty backdrop

with Bengali sarees (handlooms and silks, with gold work on them).

The textiles used are all in shades of the most festive Indian reds,

with green and yellow accents.

Here is a closer look at some of the figures,

starting with Maa Lokkhi (Lakshmi), the Goddess of Wealth:

Maa Saraswati (The Goddess of Knowledge and Learning);

Lakshmi and Saraswati are the two daughters of Durga:

Mahishasura (love how dramatic his face is in every rendition):

Lord Kartik (one of the two sons of Durga, Lord Ganesha beinf the other)

Closer look at the decorations:

Hand crafted chaandmalas (Bengali: chaand - moon, mala - garland),

these are traditional adornments,

also hung for the Mother's hands, one of the essentials of the puja.

Let me also share with you this video,

sent to me by Halley Goswami from Kolkata.

Halley is a very talented and very young self-taught artist

who makes Durga idols from the scratch every year at home for the puja.

Brilliant work!

For those of you who wish to attend the puja in Geneva,

here are the details:

Venue:

Centre Vedantique

Avenue d’Aire 63

CH-1203 Geneva

(Junction of Avenue d’Aire and Avenue des Eidguenots)

Tel. +41-22-3407807

(Public transport: bus # 27, 7; Bus stop: Camille Martin)

For further queries, feel free to email me at happydithi@gmail.com

Date and time: 15th october, 2010, Puja begins at 18:45 hours.

More photos soon.