Durga Puja 2007
Encyclopedia
Durga Puja 2007, or the five day Durga Puja
Durga Puja
Durga puja ; দুর্গা পূজা,ଦୁର୍ଗା ପୂଜା,‘Worship of Durga’), also referred to as Durgotsava ; , is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and...

 festival honouring the Goddess Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

, was celebrated with vigour from 2007-10-17 (ষষ্টী, shashthi) to 2007-10-21(দশমী, dashami), all over the lands where Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

s and other Eastern Indian peoples live. As usual, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

 was the epicentre with a large number of pandals competing for attention.

Legal Wrangles

Leading up to the Pujas, the matter of possible copyright violations by Pandal designers was highlighted when the publishers of Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 India, sued the FD Block puja committee in Salt Lake
Salt Lake
For a lake containing a high concentration of salt, see salt lake.More specifically, Salt Lake may refer to:- Cities, counties, towns etc. :* Salt Lake, Hawaii, a neighborhood on the island of Oahu...

, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, over their pandal (marquee) which was designed to resemble the Hogwarts Castle. The suit claimed a fine of 25,000 pounds or 2 million Rupees but was eventually thrown out by Delhi High Court, subject to certain conditions.

Tragedy

On the second day of the Pujas, mahashaptami night, the pandal at pocket-40, Chittaranjan Park
Chittaranjan Park
Chittaranjan Park , aka C.R. Park is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, and home to a large Bengali community in Delhi. It was established in the early 1960s under the name EPDP Colony or East Pakistan Displaced Persons colony, and was renamed after Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, in 1980s...

 in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 was burnt to the ground around 4 a.m. on 2007-10-19. The fire originated from the kitchen area, and electrical short-circuit is a possible cause. There were no casualties.

Asian Paints Sharad Shamman (2007)

This year's Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is an excellence award given to the best decorated Durga Puja Pandal in Kolkata during the festival in October. Since its inception in 1985, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been heralded as the true achievement for excellence in decorating the abodes for Goddess Durga...

 was also declared on the night of Ashtami. Like previous years, six winners were declared judged by people from various artistic fields.

Winners:
  • Best Puja : Khidderpore 25 Pally
  • Best Puja : Laketown Natun Pally Pradip Sangha
  • Best Puja : Pathuriaghata Pacher Pally
  • Discovery of the Year : Kankurgachi Mitali Sangha
  • Creative Excellence : New Alipore Suruchi Sangha
  • Best Artisan : Chakraberia Sarbojanin (Shri Purnendu Sen)


Finalists
  • Chaltabagan Lohapatty
  • Naktolla Udayan Sangha
  • Behala Adarshapally
  • Behala Sitalatolla Kishore Sangha
  • Laketown Adhibashibrindo
  • Badamtala Ashar Sangha


The panel of judges included Anindita Sarbadhikary, Bikram Ghosh, Kaushik Chatterjee, Mir, Sagnik Chowdhury, Surajit Sengupta.
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! colspan="3" style="background:red" |Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is an excellence award given to the best decorated Durga Puja Pandal in Kolkata during the festival in October. Since its inception in 1985, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been heralded as the true achievement for excellence in decorating the abodes for Goddess Durga...


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! colspan="3" style="background:orange"| Best Puja
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! colspan="3" style="background:orange"| Discovery of the Year
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! colspan="3" style="background:orange"| Creative Excellence
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! colspan="3" style="background:orange"| Best Artisan
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