Organised by the Bengali community in Mumbai, Durga Puja pandals offer an extraordinary devotional experience for worshipping Maa Durga. A special bhog is offered to the goddess and distributed as prasad to all the devotees each year. More than 30,000 people take bhog in this pandal each year and cooking at such a large scale is not easy! The scale of cooking is huge and the responsibility is even bigger - but year by year - tirelessly in all devotion - the bhog is cooked and served with love and consumed by thousands in the spirit of Joi Maa Durga! In this episode of Culture Beat, Mid-day’s Katyayani Kapoor explores what goes into making the bhog at Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav 2024. Take a look.

The festival of Durga Puja 2024 is here and this brings us to one of the most culturally rich celebrations in the country. The city of Mumbai is soaked in the fervour as Durga Puja pandals in Mumbai kicked off the Durga puja celebrations. One of Mumbai’s most famous Durga Puja pandals - Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav also kicked off celebrations in the evening of 8th October. The first look of Durga Ma was unveiled as scores of devotees gathered to catch the first darshan. The members from the Bengali community made Alpona and traditional Bengali Dhak was played to celebrate the occasion. Take a look.