(HPI note: This issue of HPI is devoted to the many reports from around the world on the just-concluded Navaratri Festival.)
ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA, September 28, 2006: The islanders from Andaman and Nicobar are pulling together to organize pujas for Durga this year. Falguni Ganguly, secretary of Atul Smriti Samity (a puja committee popularly known as Bengali Club of Port Blair), explains, “Last year, we had celebrated the puja in a low key manner, without collecting donations from the general public, who were already having problems due to the tsunami. But this year we are back with all energy and best possible arrangements. This year the Deity of Goddess Durga was brought from Kumartoli and lightings from Kolkata, while the interior decorations were being done by artists from Medinipur district of West Bengal.” Other puja committees on Andaman have also forged ahead with elaborate arrangements, while the celebrations will still be low key in Nicobar this year as people are still recovering from the tragedy.