Kolkata's First Pet-Friendly Durga Puja Pandal Inaugurated By Police Dogs

Two pet-friendly Durga Puja Pandals were set up in West Bengal so people with pets could stop by along with their pets. Police dogs were the chief guests at the inauguration of the Bidhan Sarani Puja on Sunday, September 25.

The Behala Club Durga Puja will have a pet-friendly pandal where pet owners can catch a glimpse of the deity with their pets. However, the Bidhan Sarani Atlas Club in Shyambazar area of Kolkata made its theme stray dogs and indie breeds.

Pet-Friendly Pandal

Bidhan Sarani Atlas Club opened the first pet-friendly pandal in Kolkata. Four canine members of the Kolkata Police’s dog squad were invited as chief guests for the inauguration of the Bidhan Sarai Puja.

The Kolkata Police took to Twitter to share pictures of the special inauguration. Members of the dog squad, Labradors Molly and Camphor and German Shepherds Liza and Dinky graced the pandal with their presence as chief guests.

A picture showed the four dogs bowing to pay respect to the Goddess Durga.

The idea for Bidhan Sarani Puja came to be after artist Sayak Raj learned that a Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee filed an FIR against a Noida resident for hurting religious sentiments. A video of the Noida resident’s Husky touching an idol’s feet at the temple went viral on social media.

Raj said, “Kedarnath is a shrine of the deity Shiva, who is also referred to as Pashupatinath or lord of the animals. And yet, there was such a controversy over a dog visiting the temple”.

The pet-friendly pandal was open exclusively for pet owners from a three-day period. For the rest of the days, the organisers will have a helpline number pet owners can use to contact them and inform the pandal about their visit. Pets can enter through a special entry gate accompanied by a person.

The Behali Club pet-friendly pandal will be inaugurated today, September 28. Sayantan Bhattacharjee said. “Our reason for opening our pandal to pets was to make sure that the entire family, pets included, can be a part of the celebration”.

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