Patna: A 70ft-tall and 30ft-wide Shivling-shaped pandal will be the centrepiece of this year’s Durga Puja at Himgiri Chauraha, where the Sri Vijay Vahini Durga Puja Samiti will highlight mobile addiction among children through a demon called ‘Mobileasur’, replacing Mahishasur.Committee president Santosh Kumar said excessive screen time had become a modern-day demon. Harsh Vardhan, a committee member who proposed the theme, said adults’ phone habits also influenced children.“We want to give a message about reducing screen time. Even adults are addicted to their phones, and children learn by observing them. Bad habits have become our demons,” Harsh said.The 16ft idol of Goddess Durga, being crafted by Abhijeet Pal of Nadia, West Bengal, is around 60% complete. His family has made the idol for the puja, which began in 1982. The main installation will retain the traditional depiction of Goddess Durga with Lord Shankar and her four children. Mobile phones and model children will instead feature in the depiction replacing Mahishasur, highlighting screen addiction.At the Anandpuri entrance, a 450ft installation featuring 20,000 bells hung with “mouli” thread will welcome devotees. A selfie zone featuring cut-outs from the popular Mirzapur movie is another attraction.The committee has planned six days of “bhandara” from Oct 11 to 16, starting at 6pm. Around 5,000 people are expected daily, with kheer, puri and “sabji” served on three days and rice, curry and sweets on the remaining days. Prasad will include kheer and puri on Saptami, halwa on Ashtami and masala khichdi on Navami. During Kumari Puja, 101 girls from nearby neighbourhoods will be worshipped.Organisers expect at least one lakh visitors daily, with the biggest crowd on Navami. Preparations, including crowd management, are under way. The estimated cost is Rs 25 lakh, around 20% higher than last year. Although 75% of “chanda” collection is complete, arranging additional gas cylinders remains a challenge.President Santosh Kumar, secretary Suman Kumar and committee members Harsh Vardhan, Anand Manaswin and Ashish Manaswin are overseeing preparations, alongside Mahendra Mandal, who has come from Madhupur.
