Ask any Bengali if they are looking forward to Durga Puja this year and their eyes will instantly light up. After nearly two years (due to the Covid-induced pandemic), the festival is being celebrated again, in full spirit and fervour. 

This time around, some pandals in Kolkata are going the Metaverse way, essentially conducting darshans via a 3D platform. This means, you could be in any corner in the world and still be able to see Maa Durga - as close as it gets. 

Maa Durga In Metaverse

Metaform and XP&ampDLand have announced the 'Meta Pujo', a first of its kind in the world. In Kolkata, the iconic Ahiri Tala Sarbojanin, Deshapriya Park, and Ballygunge Cultural and Tala Prattay pandals will boast of a new kind of puja that will be accessible through 3D twins on the Metaverse. In a statement, Suveer Bajaj, Co-Founder of Metaform and XP&ampDLand, said, "You don&rsquot have to be in Kolkata now to celebrate the pujas. Meta pujas will allow people from all over the world to enter pandal meta twins and be united in celebration." 

Metaverse is a virtual-reality space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment. All technological platforms that fuse physical environment and virtual spaces are part of the metaverse.

Devotion and Tech Bridging The Gap 

In a world where technology is rapidly influencing human behaviour, organisers have envisioned this year's Durga Puja with a long term plan of keeping in mind the Bengali community settled outside of Kolkata.

The 3D recreations will enable devotees to walk around, talk to others, and click pictures. One can even make a meta-realistic avatar of themselves and access everything via smartphones and tablets.