Other States - Orissa   

Organisers defend ad hoardings at pandals

Advertisements being displayed around puja pandals in the capital city.

BHUBANESWAR: Advertisement blitzkrieg around puja pandals attract both censure and backing in this year’s dusshera celebration.

Before devotees could get to see idol of goddess Durga on puja pandals in the capital city, their eyes get stuck on big pillar-structure advertisement hoardings. Fluttering ad banners on roads near puja pandals also give the whole surroundings a different look.

“Spiritual ambience, which often prevails around puja pandals, is getting diluted due to flooding of ads. People get to see billboards and commercial ads everywhere throughout the year while moving in the city. But once in a year devotees come to pandals for a darshan of goddess Durga, they don’t want more commercial ads this time around,” said Kailash Kumar Dash, a septuagenarian priest.

Mr. Dash said using deities’ pandals as platform for brand building was looking ugly and organisers should try to protect the sanctity of places of worship.

Similar views were expressed by Rebati Biswal, a housewife, who said advertisements were destroying the beauty of pandals. If commercialisation of places of worship continued in this manner a day may come when devotees tay away from puja pandals, she said.

However, organisers don’t see any harm in it.

“We need funds to conduct puja on a massive scale. If advertisements help us raise money for the event, we should rather welcome it,” said an organiser of Sahid Nagar Durga Puja Committee here on Saturday.

Similar was the opinion of organisers of Nayapalli Durga Puja Committee who have reportedly received more than Rs. 2 lakhs for allowing putting up advertisements in the proximity of their pandals. They said benefits of money raised from advertisements would ultimately go to the cultural programmes and the decoration.

“It is a win-win situation for both organizers and companies. Looking at the huge footfalls in pandals during four to five days, advertisers can expect good returns on their investment,” said Lingaraj Barik, manager of Surya Ad System Private Limited, an advertising agency.

According to an estimate, around 30,000 devotees visit pandals during a day.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sufi Night
Organisers defend ad hoardings at pandals
Huge turnout at temples
Baseball players injured in accident
Man robbed of Rs. 1 lakh
Rural courier system suffers setback
‘Oil spill’: team visits Paradip
Winners all

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu