Guwahati City's Enduring Love Affair with the Lakshmi Mandir Puja Mandap

By: Rana Pratap Saikia

If you were a kid growing up in Guwahati city in the 1990s, you would have no doubt heard about the iconic 'Lakhkhi Mandir' (pronounced 'Lokhkhi Mandir' in the native tongue) puja and the infamous puja rush.

"I was almost trampled to death, oh, the rush almost gave me a heart attack", you were likely to hear an aunt exclaim, growing up. Of course, if you were a child, that particular puja would be off-limits. "Who is going to man the children? Many children have been known to have been lost there", a concerned elderly would say. Plus, there would always be the fear of being blown up by a 'bomb'. "You have to be careful...cannot go there. What if there is a bomb blast?", your mother would admonish.

But then, there would be those one-two kids in school who were lucky enough to have been taken to the famous puja.

Of course, the rush was the result of the electronic show that the organizers have been putting on since God knows when. Once you are within a 5-kilometer radius of the puja, you can hear the menacing laugh of the 'Mahisasura'. For many years, as a side-show beside the mandap, an electronic show has been set up that shows the proverbial triumph of good over evil, of Goddess Durga vanquishing the evil demon King Mahishasura.

Over the years, more attractions have been set up on the stretch of the road on both sides of the puja mandap. Got kids? Not to worry, inflatable bouncing playgrounds are available (for a premium, of course).

Apart from these, there's always a curious batch of fast food joints, which, despite serious doubts over hygiene, manages to pull in the revellers in great numbers.

This year, if you visit the Lakhkhi Mandir puja, you will find a rather curious addition -- a band made up of plastic skeletons belting out popular Bollywood songs! (What is it with Durga Puja mandaps' fondness for singing skeletons, anyway?)

As time has gone on, the Durga Puja has evolved into a conceptual, innovative, and scientific affair. This year, for instance, keeping abreast of the times, the puja committees have been keeping an eye on the environment. Not to be left behind, another pandal erected a pandal themed on James Cameron's mega-blockbuster 'Avatar'. Heck, a Durga Puja mandap in Dibrugarh even set up a discotheque within the pandal and is charging five hundred bucks each from visitors!

However, the Lakkhi Mandir puja in Guwahati, despite being around for a long time, still sticks to the basics. And perhaps it is the nostalgia that keeps bringing back people for more - of the same, of the old.

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