SHILLONG: The infamous godmen, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is engaged in physical labour in jail and Asaram Bapu stands in the next cell.
A puja pandal in the city has depicted these facts to create awareness that the wage of sin is punishment.
The Mathura compound Durga Puja pandal in Jhalupara chose to be more creative in depicting the present day reality.
The organising secretary of Mathura compound Durga Puja pandal, Santosh Raj Mudgal, said that the purpose of the tableau of Ram Rahim, powered by electricity, was to convey the message that illegal activities of spiritual leaders should not be tolerated.
“No one should do business in the name of religion. This is the prominent message which we want to communicate to the people,” Mudgal said.
Secretary Prasad Gupta said some boys from the locality were given the task of creating something unique and they came up with the contemporary theme of abuse of religion by spiritual leaders.
“Whether good or bad, we want our boys to come up with something creative and we hope this will encourage them to do greater things in life,” he said.
Amit Prasad, volunteer in charge and assistant secretary of the puja, said every year, the Mathura compound Durga Puja takes up contemporary theme with a message for revellers.
He said the main pandal created by decorators from Alipurduar in West Bengal depicted the theme of environmental protection. “We need to be close to nature and we want to communicate this through our pandal,” he said.
The puja was started in 1989 by Mathura Rai, who came from Chhapra district of Bihar.
Later, his son Puni Rai continued his tradition followed by his son Vinod who is the current vice chairman of the Mathura compound Durga Puja committee.
Narasimha Akhara pandal
Another unique Durga Puja pandal is Narasimha Akhara at Qualapatty.
Vice president of the pandal BP Tripathi said the puja celebration started in 1953. “Though the puja was started by a group of five to six persons from Bihar, all the communities are now part of the celebration committee,” he added.
The pandal is of a camel motif with a fountain run by electricity in front created by artistes from Alipurduar.
The secretary of the puja, SK Shahi, said the same pandal is the venue for Ganesh, Saraswati, Janmashtami, Vishwakarma, Lakshmi and Kali pujas.
