The Baguiati Rail Pokhar United Club in Kolkata has opened its 73rd Durga Puja with a pandal created from thousands of kilograms of recycled newspapers, using a “Collage” theme to combine art, cultural memory and an environmental message.
The pandal was inaugurated by West Bengal Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay and MLA Tarunjyoti Tiwari, along with other dignitaries. Artist Somnath Tamli conceived the installation, which uses old newspapers as its primary creative material.
According to the club, the “Collage” concept brings together different ideas, materials and cultural elements to create a unified artwork. The use of discarded newspapers is intended to highlight environmental conservation and recycling while giving a familiar everyday material a new public and artistic role.
The installation is also connected to the mythology of Goddess Durga. Its concept draws from the story in which the collective powers of different deities came together to create the divine form of the goddess. The pandal extends that idea of collective contribution by presenting references to figures including Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray, Satyendra Nath Bose, Matangini Hazra, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda.
Newspapers are used in the pandal not only as a recyclable material but also as a record of changing public communication. The installation depicts bundles of newspapers and the traditional system of distributing them by bicycle, recalling the older relationship between print journalism and neighbourhood life.
The display also presents the shift from print newspapers to digital news platforms. Through these visual elements, the club has connected the history of newspaper distribution with wider changes in how people access information and engage with public life.
Pintu Bhattacharya, the club’s puja secretary, said the “Collage” theme was an attempt to bring diversity, collective contribution and cultural heritage together. He said the 73rd Durga Puja was using the theme to present a story of unity, environmental conservation and changing times.
The pandal’s design places recycling within a temporary community gathering space, where cultural celebration and public art intersect. Its use of old newspapers gives the installation a material connection to Kolkata’s print culture while directing attention to the reuse of materials in festival construction.
The Baguiati Rail Pokhar United Club’s Durga Puja will continue with the recycled-newspaper pandal as its central installation, combining the club’s cultural programme with its stated themes of environmental protection, shared heritage and social change.
