The North Calcutta Bagbazar Traders Association Ganesh puja. Picture by Amit Datta

The festivities in Calcutta have kicked off a month before Durga puja and several streets are reverberating with “Ganapati bappa maurya” in the run-up to “Bolo Durga mai ki jai”.

Lord Ganesh is the new kid on the puja block. The past three to four years have witnessed a steep rise in the number of Ganesh pujas in Calcutta. The prime reason is the heightened prayer for prosperity among both non-Bengalis and, yes, Bengalis. Then, there is the spotlight factor of this festival becoming more visible — from the streets of Mumbai to the screens of Bollywood (yes, the new Don has Shah Rukh Khan doing a Ganesh Chaturthi number). And then, this year there was the Ganesh milk-drinking episode on August 20. All in all, it meant more hype, more pujas and more idols.

Ask the artisans of Kumartuli. Taking a break from the Devi, they got busy this weekend designing one Ganesh idol after another to keep pace with the rising demand. “The tradition of organising Ganesh pujas at the community level has caught on recently. Prior to that, the numbers of Ganesh idols made and sold were insignificant. Every one of the 500-plus Ganesh idols made in Kumartuli this year has been sold. Those not meant for community pujas were taken away by the clubs,” says artist Dilip Pal.

And just like for the made-to-order Durga deity, Ganesh puja organisers came to Kumartuli this time with designs of their choice. Some wanted their Ganesh to be seated on a lotus, while others wanted him on his vahan, the rat.

The growing count of the ‘Bangali businessman’ seems to be reflected in the leaning towards the laddoo puja. Case in point: the one organised by North Calcutta Bagbazar Traders Association, near Bagbazar Bata, has an 18-ft-high deity and provides prasad to over 5,000 people.

“This puja started in 2003 and it is very big now. But we do not carry on as long as they do in some places in Maharashtra. The puja was opened on Saturday and the immersion will take place on Wednesday,” says Debashis Chakravarty, secretary, North Calcutta Bagbazar Traders Association.

From Bagbazar to Burrabazar, the growing number of Ganesh devotees is a shared phenomenon. “Till two years ago, we would have the Ganesh puja inside our house. Then, as our group grew bigger, we decided to move out and involve the community,” says Sanjay Sharma, a member of the Ganesh Puja in Nimbutala, of Burrabazar.

The god of wisdom and prosperity has found more first-time followers this time because of the milk-drinking drama beamed from various parts of the country. “That made people quite emotional and pushed up the popularity of the puja,” says artisan Pal.