Two civic towns of East Burdwan, Katwa and Dainhat gears up for Kartik Lorai (duel) with all devotion and excitement as these are remnants of two key religious and cultural events over centuries here.

Kartik Lorai began in Katwa in the 18th century, where different community puja organisers bring large processions with dozens of small Kartik idols framed in triangular galleries each in successive processions for two consecutive days around towns.

“This Kartik lorai is only visible in these two towns of Bengal and many rush from different districts to witness the rare and vibrant festival here,” said Samir Saha, chairman, Katwa Municipality. In Katwa town, 83 puja committees have been accommodated in the government list for the two-day procession, along a 4.8 km stretch in the town. In the small Dainhat town, Kartik lorai procession is confined to 3.2 km. In Dainhat and Katwa, the district police declared to deploy 2,000 policemen accompanied by civic police volunteers to control the rush.

At Purbasthali, in neighbouring Kalna, around a hundred Kartik Pujas are arranged and Tapan Chatterjee, local MLA is one of the prominent organisers there. “Purbasthali doesn’t have the custom to bring out processions,” said Chatterjee.

In Katwa town, local clubs named Oxygen, Jhankar Town Club have arranged big budget pujas spending up to Rs 30 lakh each and they’ve arranged lighting from Chandernagore. Bijoy Adhikari, Babulal Sheikh of Oxygen club, explained, “Ours is one of the most prominent pujas and we’ve given our best efforts to contest in the competition.” Kali Chattaraj of Jhankar Club too said they will give a tough competition to their opponents.

But, how Kartik Puja and the duel were introduced to Katwa, Dainhat, historian Dr Swapan Kumar Thakur explained, “In 18th century, the primitive weavers community in Katwa first had introduced many small Kartik idols framed in triangular bamboo structured symmetrical galleries named as Thaka and each such gallery accommodates as many as 31 idols describing different styles and gestures of Kartik.”

The gestures are based on the descriptions narrated in the epics – The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In present days, large pandals for Kartik idols are also erected across the twin towns.

Dr Thakur added, “The Thakas are 15 to 20-feet long and 6 to 7-feet wide, which are carried in the procession by the devotees and the spectators waiting beside the road act as selectors.”

This tradition continues uninterrupted for nearly 300 years, Dr Thakur said. The zamindars and the businessmen later entered into the competition, which helped the custom to grow into the key event in these two towns. Pradip Kumar Roy, chairman, Dainhat Municipality said: “It’s although titled as ‘lorai’, but the duel is friendly and youths from different religious backgrounds take part in the event.”