From SIR to pollution, current affairs enter Saraswati Puja pandals as themes
Times of India | 23 January 2026
Kolkata: With social and environmental concerns, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) made its debut as a Saraswati Puja theme this year.
A group of students from Ballygunge Science College chose SIR as the theme for the puja decoration. In the background, they created a black hole and placed numerous hands holding documents to depict harassment during the SIR process. They used several hanging ropes to highlight consecutive SIR-related deaths due to fear and mental stress. A goalpost was placed at the centre, with two jerseys — green and saffron — fixed to the two posts, linking the SIR process with elections.
Subhojit Sapui, an MSc second-year student in the depart of neuroscience, said, "We gave a strong message against the harassment that we are all facing now. We want this to stop immediately, which is also our prayer to the goddess. The SIR process impacted the education sector, as many school teachers were assigned BLO duty and schools are being used for SIR hearings. Eighty lives are already lost due to this process, but all this effort will not have an impact, as people in Bengal live peacefully under the present govt. We also highlighted social welfare schemes run by the state govt."
Many social issues, especially environmental concerns, were highlighted through puja decorations. Scottish Church Collegiate School's puja theme focused on plantation and pollution control. Students made sketches to promote environmental protection and wrote slogans on chart paper as the backdrop of the puja mandap.
The puja theme at Jadavpur Vidyapith focused on women's empowerment, with the catchline: "Bring light to the home as Lakshmi, conquer the world as Saraswati." The theme blended traditional perspectives on women with recent achievements by prominent women. "There was a preconceived notion about women and their abilities, which is being challenged today as women are excelling in every field—science and technology, sports, politics, and more. We pray to Goddess Saraswati for knowledge, education, and speech, but for many years women were subdued and told they were incompetent," said Partha Pratim Baidya, headmaster.
Hindu School's theme paid tribute to Ritwik Ghatak on his 100th birth centenary. An exhibition was organised in collaboration with Bangla Academy under the segment "Fire Dekha" (Recap). The idol and decorations were based on Bengal Patachitra, a traditional mythological art form of Bengal.
Bhawanipur Mitra Institution's theme was based on "Kolkata", blending history and time. It focused on the city's transformation into a metropolitan hub. Raja Dey, the school headmaster, said, "The main thrust of the theme is to look back at the history of the entire journey of our beloved city. The theme highlighted prominent places in Kolkata as well."