Durga Puja 2007, or the five day Durga Puja festival honouring the Goddess Durga, was celebrated with vigour from 2007-10-17 (ষষ্টী, shashthi) to 2007-10-21(দশমী, dashami), all over the lands where Hindu Bengalis and other Eastern Indian peoples live. As usual, Kolkata was the epicentre with a large number of pandals competing for attention.
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Leading up to the Pujas, the matter of possible copyright violations by Pandal designers was highlighted when the publishers of Harry Potter in India, Penguin India, sued the FD Block puja committee in Salt Lake, Kolkata, over their pandal (marquee) which was designed to resemble the Hogwarts Castle. The suit claimed a fine of 25,000 pounds or 2 million Rupees but was eventually thrown out by Delhi High Court, subject to certain conditions.[1][2]
On the second day of the Pujas, mahashaptami night, the pandal at pocket-40, Chittaranjan Park in Delhi was burnt to the ground around 4 a.m. on 2007-10-19. The fire originated from the kitchen area, and electrical short-circuit is a possible cause.[3] There were no casualties.
This year's Asian Paints Sharad Shamman was also declared on the night of Ashtami. Like previous years, six winners were declared judged by people from various artistic fields.[6]
Winners:
Finalists
The panel of judges included Anindita Sarbadhikary, Bikram Ghosh, Kaushik Chatterjee, Mir, Sagnik Chowdhury, Surajit Sengupta.
| Preceded by Durga Puja 2006 |
Durga Puja 2007 October 17, 2008 - October 21, 2008 |
Succeeded by Durga Puja 2008 |
| Asian Paints Sharad Shamman | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best Puja | ||
| Preceded by Haridevpur 41 Pally Bosepukur Talbagan Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha |
Pathuriaghata Pacher Pally Khidderpore 25 Pally Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha October 2007 |
Succeeded by Telengabagan Sarbojanin Tangra Gholpara Sarbojanin Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha |
| Discovery of the Year | ||
| Preceded by Jawpur Bayam Samity |
Kankurgachi Mitali Sangha October 2007 |
Succeeded by Santoshpur Lakepally Hatibagan Nabinpally |
| Creative Excellence | ||
| Preceded by Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati |
New Alipore Suruchi Sangha October 2007 |
Succeeded by Naktolla Udayan Sangha |
| Best Artisan | ||
| Preceded by Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda |
Chakraberia Sarbojanin Shri Purnendu Dey October 2007 |
Succeeded by Barisha Club Shri Purnendu Dey |