Kolkata’s jute puja pandal initiative has begun with the inauguration of the ‘Onno Puja’ pandal at Offbeat CCU on Tapasia Road, as the National Jute Board promotes environmentally friendly decoration and jute-based products during the Durga Puja season.
Textile Commissioner and Jute Commissioner Brinda M. Desai and National Jute Board secretary Shashi Bhushan Singh inaugurated the pandal on Friday, according to a report by Sanmarg – Kolkata. The event is part of a wider set of initiatives by the National Jute Board to position jute as a sustainable material for public and cultural use.
The board is also promoting jute diversified products, a category that includes products made from jute beyond traditional packaging applications. The initiative aims to increase public awareness of these products and encourage their use during one of Kolkata’s largest annual cultural events.
As part of the programme, stalls have been installed at 15 Durga Puja pandals across Kolkata. These stalls are displaying and selling a range of jute-based products, giving visitors an opportunity to see and purchase items made from the natural fibre during the festival.
The National Jute Board has also announced a ‘Jute Eco-Friendly Puja Pandal Competition’. Puja organisers using jute in their decorations will be considered for recognition and awards. The judging will take into account the quantity of jute used, the artistic presentation of the decoration and its overall aesthetic quality.
The initiative links the management of temporary public festival spaces with the promotion of an agricultural and industrial material associated with eastern India. By placing jute products and jute-based decorations within puja venues, the board is using the festival’s large public reach to demonstrate possible applications of the material.
The programme’s stated focus is to encourage environmentally friendly materials in puja decorations and make visitors more familiar with jute as a durable and sustainable option. The 15 participating stalls and the competition are the principal components identified by the board in the initiative announced for this year’s Durga Puja.
The competition will assess participating puja organisers on their use of jute, the creative treatment of the material and the visual quality of the finished decorations. The National Jute Board’s next identified step is to recognise and reward organisers whose pandals meet these criteria.
