Go to Kolkata’s AI and VR powered Durga puja pandals infusing custom with tech

Durga Puja is right here. Social media is abuzz with reels and pictures of the grandiose theme pujas of Kolkata. Sourya Roy, an IT skilled is confused with all this info coming his method. The answer? He asks ChatGpt to make him a four-day pandal hopping itinerary protecting reveals from all components of town. In seconds the AI (synthetic intelligence) platform generates an in depth but thoughtfully paced itinerary of pandals from North, South, East, and West Kolkata with tips about the quickest routes to take and proposals for eating places and meals stalls that can fall on the way in which to the pandals. 

This 12 months’s Durga Puja celebrations see an evolving digital consciousness the place custom converses with expertise. Through the years, Durga Puja has transcended from a quaint celebration of an historic custom to an avant-garde celebration of artwork, tradition, historical past and now expertise. OpenAI, 360-degree VR (Digital Actuality) excursions, high-tech 11D lighting, dynamic interactive gentle and sound reveals, and cellular apps helping pandal hopping have collectively reworked Durga Puja into an immersive expertise. Moreover, Kolkata Police’s newest AI-enabled show boards, launched in 2023 to indicate real-time ready instances exterior main pandals, additional improve the pageant’s technological sophistication. 

ThePujaApp is a non-profit organisation in Kolkata. They supply free-of-cost VR excursions of puja pandals previous and current on their portal which might be considered via iOS and Android units in addition to the Oculus (a VR headset system). With a wealthy archive of 300+ previous pujas, the organisation has been operational within the metropolis for the final 13 years. 

Soumyajit Chakraborty, challenge supervisor at EY in Eire, has lived overseas for over 15 years. The skilled says, “Ever since I moved in a foreign country I’ve been utilizing ThePujaApp. By way of their simply downloadable VR excursions, I’ve proven my mates in Eire the magic of Durga Puja. Their excursions are in 15k (15000 pixels extensive) high quality, making the expertise very tangible. I normally entry it from my iPhone and solid it on my flat-screen or pair it with my Oculus to immerse into the puja fervour.”

Drone shot of Kalyani ITI Durga puja
| Photograph Credit score:
Sammya Brata Mullick

Founders of ThePujaApp just lately invited the author to expertise Durga Puja via an Oculus. It felt like being dropped into an artwork set up. By way of the VR glasses, the 15k high-resolution panoramas enveloped the senses, capturing each delicate brushstroke and complex sample contained in the pandals. The towering presence of Ma Durga felt greater than actual. Drone pictures swooped down from above, revealing the ornate pandal buildings rising like celestial shrines amidst the Kolkata skyline. The sound of devotional hymns, frantic beats of the dhaak (drums) and the bustling metropolis blended into the expertise. The entire absence of crowds was the very best half. As we witnessed the pandal an X-Ray display screen confirmed the names of artists related to its making. 

Partho Ghosh, common secretary of Shibmandir Durga Puja and a member of the Durga Puja Discussion board says, “Earlier than Durga Puja, VR proficient non-profit organisations like ThePujaApp strategy us to seize the essence of the pandal digitally. The high-resolution photos assist artists recognise nuanced errors in craftsmanship. That is of nice assist as a result of it ensures that the ultimate touches given to the idol and the pandal are excellent.”

Soumyaditya Mukherjee, journalist and one of many founders of ThePujaApp says, “We consider that Durga Puja isn’t any much less an immersive expertise. By way of our VR resolution, we wish to take Durga Puja to individuals throughout the globe.”

Arpan Chatterjee, VR specialist and one of many founders of ThePujaApp says, “Our viewership ranges from 45-50 lakh views yearly, and 15% of our hits come from NRIs dwelling in america. The farthest we’ve been in a position to join is with Indian households in Bolivia and Chile. We now have a ‘cult’ following of roughly 4 lakh customers worldwide. Our projections are distinctive as a result of we don’t present the crowds. So the person feels that he/she is the one one within the pandal making it a really private and hassle-free viewing expertise.” 

Increasing the immersive expertise

Up North, pulsating like town’s beating coronary heart is the big spheroid of Santosh Mitra Sq.. A reproduction of the Las Vegas Sphere, this big sphere engages revellers via the language of emotion, gentle, color, and sound. With 1,68,000 puck-sized LED lighting and charming 11D reveals, the sphere is 112 metres in peak and 5,400 sq. metres in size. The inside options dramatic multidimensional immersive visible results. Recognized earlier to have been one of many first pujas within the metropolis to conduct laser and lightweight reveals, this 12 months puja authorities have determined to cast off it to keep away from stampede-like conditions. 

Along with these technological marvels, Durga Puja Pandal Hopper an software out there on the Google Play Retailer has 10k+ downloads. With a score of three out of 5 the app has had a constant person base since 2018. The free software is a information showcasing high-resolution photos of pandals throughout Kolkata. Customers can create a personalised wishlist utilizing the GPRS on the app that highlights the pandals within the metropolis. The app additionally permits rankings of pandals and retains customers up to date on the very best visitors routes to keep away from crowds. A person of the app Sabari Moulik says, “I’ve been utilizing the app for the final two years. The app is helpful for navigating visitors and makes pandal hopping simpler. Places are exact, and the app additionally helps monitor pujas held within the suburbs.”

Ultimately, Kolkata’s Durga Puja embroiders the divine and digital on its material of timelessness. The gods nonetheless descend, as they at all times have, however now they arrive on digital chariots, on the wings of fibre-optic cables and digital screens, an enigma refracted into pixels, algorithms and 11-dimensional gentle. Expertise, now not a hard intruder, turns into one other storyteller chronicling the legend of the deity whose timeless whisper via town stays unchanging. As she prepares for her descent many revellers like Sourya, armed along with his AI-generated itinerary are off to grab the day. This isn’t the way forward for custom, it’s custom reclaiming the longer term.