West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took out a rally on Thursday to express gratitude to UNESCO for putting Kolkata’s Durga Puja on the intangible cultural heritage representative list. Secretary of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Tim Curtis and UNESCO representative for New Delhi office Eric Falt were in the city to attend the event.
Not just Kolkata, each district of West Bengal organised a grand rally to thank UNESCO. From women drummers of South 24 Parganas to religious and cultural groups (Bauls) of Birbhum, all were present during the event showcasing the culture of West Bengal.
Both Mamata and Sourav Ganguly greeted the UNESCO representatives.
The rally started from Jorasanko Thakur Bari (House of Rabindranath Tagore) in Kolkata and culminated at Red Road where the felicitation took place.
UNESCO’s Eric Falt said, “I did not expect anything so big. We will report back to our headquarters is Paris… I have never seen such enthusiasm. We will come for pre-puja celebration and during Durga Puja. We are already working with Bengal MSME.”
While thanking the UNESCO representatives, Mamata said, “This stage has become a united world stage. I believe the world is one country. There is only one thing that is humanity. About Rs 40 crore business takes place during the Durga Puja, and this support from UNESCO will give a big boost to us. The beauty of Durga Puja is people from all religions celebrate it together.”
Sourav Ganguly too expressed happiness and said Durga Puja is “beyond imagination”. “I have travelled in all parts of the world but have never seen such festivity anywhere. I thank UNESCO that this festival got due recognition.”
Meanwhile, BJP’s Dilip Ghosh took a jibe at Mamata, and said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had made several arguments to stop the Durga Puja Visarjan, but it was the saffron party who had gone to the high court for permission to celebrate the festival. “Today, the Mamata government is marching for the UNESCO recognition.”
BJP’s IT in charge Amit Malviya tweeted on Thursday, “Mamata Banerjee is organising a rally to take credit for the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tag for Durga Puja. The truth, however, is that she had no role whatsoever in getting the award. It was because of efforts of Sangeet Natak Akademi, an institution under the Modi Govt.”
The TMC government also felicitated professor Professor Tapati Guha Thakurtha for putting Bengal’s Durga Puja in the UNESCO list.
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