Durga tableau to debut at Delhi Republic-Day parade – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: Goddess Durga, along with her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik, will debut in the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.
The Bengal tableau will centre around the Goddess and women’s empowerment. The state proposal for the Republic Day parade last year – a tableau to commemorate Netaji – had been rejected by the Centre.
The state had proposed the Durga theme after Unesco, in December 2021, inscribed Durga Puja on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee celebrated this in the Durga Puja carnival in 2022, which was also held after two years of Covid curbs.
Now, to utilize the gathering in Delhi where foreign diplomats will be present, the state will display the Unesco tag to help boost tourism during Durga Puja. The tableau will show the Goddess and her family being framed with riverbed clay, and how on the inaugural day of the 10-day festival – Mahalaya – the Goddess’s eyes are painted on. The aim is to show the homecoming of Durga, a return to the roots, and how it is a festival beyond all religious activities, an official said.
There might be some women drummers in the tableau, along with four women blowing conchs to welcome Durga. An official said fine-tuning is on according to the defence ministry guidelines and a meeting was held on Friday.
The officer said that in 2017, too, during the Republic Day parades, the state had focused on Sharad Utsav. He added this display of Goddess Durga at the parade in Delhi is being planned so it can get the due appreciation.
In 2022, the Centre did not approve the Netaji tableau proposal from the Bengal government. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest against this issue.
The tableaux proposals from Kerala and Tamil Nadu were rejected as well, and they, too, protested.
Later, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh asserted that the selection of the tableau for the Republic Day parade was made according to guidelines.

Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vdGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmluZGlhdGltZXMuY29tL2NpdHkva29sa2F0YS9kdXJnYS10YWJsZWF1LXRvLWRlYnV0LWF0LWRlbGhpLXItZGF5LXBhcmFkZS9hcnRpY2xlc2hvdy85NjgwNDE2Ny5jbXPSAXFodHRwczovL20udGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmNvbS9jaXR5L2tvbGthdGEvZHVyZ2EtdGFibGVhdS10by1kZWJ1dC1hdC1kZWxoaS1yLWRheS1wYXJhZGUvYW1wX2FydGljbGVzaG93Lzk2ODA0MTY3LmNtcw?oc=5