Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Encyclopedia
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is an excellence award given to the best decorated Durga Puja
Pandal in Kolkata
during the festival in October. Since its inception in 1985, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been heralded as the true achievement for excellence in decorating the abodes for Goddess
Durga
. As time has progressed there have been numerous awards being given by many other companies for creative excellence, but still Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is considered the most important award and the rightful judgement for excellence. It is a trend setter for all the later awards.
. Sharad means "Autumn (as the festival takes place at that season) " and Shamman means "Award/Respect", and was sponsored by Asian Paints
, hence the name Asian Paints Sharad Shamman. Out of about 3000 puja pandals in Kolkata, few get shortlisted and among them six are given the awards.
This award was the first award given when APSS started in 1985. Three puja pandals are selected based on everything, i.e., Decorative excellence, best looking idol, ambiance, lighting etc. No demarcations are there like winner, first runner-up: instead all three pujas are considered to be the Best Puja. Normally winners in these category used to be the well-known Pujas, but nowadays many unknown Pujas have cropped up with the technical excellence to bag this award. At present, Durga Pujas in Kolkata are more theme oriented. Some specific theme like Madhubani art or earthen cups or a place like Kerala, will be the base for the decoration. In 2001, "Bosepukur Sitalamandir" decorated its pandal completely of earthen cups and was so popular that it won the Best Puja award hands down. There have been many Pujas which has won this award many times. "Adi Ballygunge" leads the list with five wins. A puja, once been declared a winner in this list cannot be declared in the "Discovery of the Year" award though it can win "Creative Excellence" or "Best Artisan" award.Most notable "BEST PUJA" till date is the Nabodaya pallimangal Durgapuja 2000.It had been designed with the best international influence on this bengali ritual by artist Saumya Bandyopadhyay till date.
Discovery of the Year was first introduced in 1994 as a means to introduce a previously unknown and undiscovered Puja Pandal. Many unknown Pujas have cropped up on this list which are extremely popular in Kolkata. Notable among them are Barisha Sahajatri, Karbagan, Shivmandir Sarbojanin etc. Laketown Netaji Sporting Club modeled their pandal totally on a village situated on a hill and won this award in 2003. It has also happened many times that a Puja Pandal has already been popular in Kolkata in the previous year, but wins the "Discovery" award next year. In that case logically that is not a "Discovery of the Year". A Puja, once winning this title, can't win it again.
Started in 2000, Creative Excellence or Nobbo Nakshi in Bengali
, is given as a means to felicitate the pandal with the best decoration. Pandals which has won the "Best Puja" and the "Discovery of the Year" can also win this award. "Darpanarayan Tagore Street" decorated their pandal entirely out of cowdung, which won them the first "Creative Excellence" award in 2000. Puja clubs can win this award anytime irrespective of whether they are a previously unknown puja or a famous one. Judges look for the intricacies and the details woven into creating the concept truly, and depicting them with technical brilliance.
Introduced in 2000, Best Artisan award is given to the maker of the Best Idol. Judges look for beauty, peace, strength, prowess in the idol and how good the idol can blend with the theme for the puja. Notable among the winners are Sanatan Dinda who has won 3 Best Artisan award, one for "Hatibagan Sarbojanin" in 2000 and two for "Nalin Sarkar Street" in 2004 and 2006, Shri Pradip Rudra Paul who won 2 awards for "Behala Adarshapally" and Shri Purnendu Dey who won two awards, one for "Chakraberia Sarbojanin" in 2007 and for "Barisha Club" in 2008. Behala Adarshapally won both the categories of Best Puja and Best Artisan in 2005.
. Variations include for the statuette for "Creative
Excellence" award. This includes a statue of an earthen pot with the traditional coconut and mango leaves on it. This is also made of silver.
in monochrome line drawing, little kids playing with balloons etc.
The slogan for the award is "Shuddha suchi, sustha ruchi'r sera bachai" which means "The best from the artistically efficient and culturally significant", as described by the late poet
Shri Subhash Mukhopadhay. From that point this has been the main slogan for the award.
Most wins:
The collective most wins are by the following Pujas:
Among the artisans Sanatan Dinda leads with four wins, one for Hatibagan Sarbojanin and three for Nalin Sarkar Street.
Durga Puja
Durga puja ; দুর্গা পূজা,ଦୁର୍ଗା ପୂଜା,‘Worship of Durga’), also referred to as Durgotsava ; , is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and...
Pandal in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
during the festival in October. Since its inception in 1985, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been heralded as the true achievement for excellence in decorating the abodes for Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
. As time has progressed there have been numerous awards being given by many other companies for creative excellence, but still Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is considered the most important award and the rightful judgement for excellence. It is a trend setter for all the later awards.
About the Award
"Asian Paints Sharad Shamman" was started in 1985 as a means for awarding the best decorated puja pandal during Durga Puja in KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. Sharad means "Autumn (as the festival takes place at that season) " and Shamman means "Award/Respect", and was sponsored by Asian Paints
Asian Paints
Asian Paints is an Indian paint company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Asian Paints is India’s largest paint company and Asia’s third largest paint company, with a turnover of Rs 77.06 billion.It is one of the largest paint corporation that operates in 17 countries and has 23 paint manufacturing...
, hence the name Asian Paints Sharad Shamman. Out of about 3000 puja pandals in Kolkata, few get shortlisted and among them six are given the awards.
Award Categories
Total six awards are given to six puja pandals. When Sharad Shamman started in 1985 only three awards were given to three Best Puja pandals. From 1994 a special award called "Discovery of the Year" was introduced to honour a completely unknown pandal for its excellence. This 4 categories were continued for the next six years. But in 2000 Asian Paints felt the awards were too similar, there was no demarcation to identify Best Decoration of the pandal or the Best looking Idol. Hence in 2000 two new categories were introduced - "Creative Excellence", which focussed on the Best decorated Pandal, and "Best Artisan", given to the artist of the Best looking Idol. At present these six categories represent Asian Paints Sharad Shamman. Some of the parameters for awarding the pandals include the overall beauty and grandeur of a pandal based on a chosen theme, the beauty of the Durga protima, how well the sanctum of the protima has been shown, and the finesse in the work done on the pandal.Best Puja (Shrestho Pujo)
years active (1985 - present)Discovery of the Year (Bochorer Bismoy)
years active (1994 - present)Discovery of the Year was first introduced in 1994 as a means to introduce a previously unknown and undiscovered Puja Pandal. Many unknown Pujas have cropped up on this list which are extremely popular in Kolkata. Notable among them are Barisha Sahajatri, Karbagan, Shivmandir Sarbojanin etc. Laketown Netaji Sporting Club modeled their pandal totally on a village situated on a hill and won this award in 2003. It has also happened many times that a Puja Pandal has already been popular in Kolkata in the previous year, but wins the "Discovery" award next year. In that case logically that is not a "Discovery of the Year". A Puja, once winning this title, can't win it again.
Creative Excellence (Nobbo Nakshi)
years active (2000 - present)Started in 2000, Creative Excellence or Nobbo Nakshi in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, is given as a means to felicitate the pandal with the best decoration. Pandals which has won the "Best Puja" and the "Discovery of the Year" can also win this award. "Darpanarayan Tagore Street" decorated their pandal entirely out of cowdung, which won them the first "Creative Excellence" award in 2000. Puja clubs can win this award anytime irrespective of whether they are a previously unknown puja or a famous one. Judges look for the intricacies and the details woven into creating the concept truly, and depicting them with technical brilliance.
Best Artisan (Shrestho Protimashilpi)
years active (2000 - present)Introduced in 2000, Best Artisan award is given to the maker of the Best Idol. Judges look for beauty, peace, strength, prowess in the idol and how good the idol can blend with the theme for the puja. Notable among the winners are Sanatan Dinda who has won 3 Best Artisan award, one for "Hatibagan Sarbojanin" in 2000 and two for "Nalin Sarkar Street" in 2004 and 2006, Shri Pradip Rudra Paul who won 2 awards for "Behala Adarshapally" and Shri Purnendu Dey who won two awards, one for "Chakraberia Sarbojanin" in 2007 and for "Barisha Club" in 2008. Behala Adarshapally won both the categories of Best Puja and Best Artisan in 2005.
The Award
The statuette given for Asian Paints Sharad Shamman looks like a conch shell. It is a small silver structure(previously gold) which is situated on a pedestal. This is enclosed in a glass box and handed over to the winners along with a chequeCheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
. Variations include for the statuette for "Creative
Excellence" award. This includes a statue of an earthen pot with the traditional coconut and mango leaves on it. This is also made of silver.
Asian Paints Logo and slogan
For Asian Paints Sharad Shamman, a logo of a young boy playing the dhak(drum) is shown. Also among the logos are a face of Maa DurgaDurga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
in monochrome line drawing, little kids playing with balloons etc.
The slogan for the award is "Shuddha suchi, sustha ruchi'r sera bachai" which means "The best from the artistically efficient and culturally significant", as described by the late poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Shri Subhash Mukhopadhay. From that point this has been the main slogan for the award.
Judges and judgement
The judges for the award are chosen from a who's who of the Begali Literati and include artists, art critics, writers, actors, politicians, models, singers, poets etc. Notable among those chosen over the years are artist Shuvaprasanna, actors Sabyasachi, Moon Moon Sen, magician P.C. Sorcar, vocalist Bratati etc. Puja pandals are requested to submit their application by the 3rd day of the Puja. The judges go around the town on the fifth and sixth day and visit all the different Puja pandals. On the seventh day 12 finalists are short-listed and their names are declared. Finally, on the evening of the eighth day, the winners in the different categories are declared and are handed over with their trophies.List of winners
The following is the list of winners for Asian Paints Sharad Shamman from the past 23 years.| Year | Best Puja | Discovery of the Year | Creative Excellence | Best Artisan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Jodhpur Park Adi Ballygunge Maddox Square |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1986 | College Square Adi Ballygunge Bagbazar Sarbojanin |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1987 | College Square Vivekananda Sporting Club Adi Ballugunge |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1988 | Beliaghata Sarir Sangathon Adi Ballygunge Mudiali |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1989 | Babubagan Nabapally Shimla Byam Samiti |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1990 | Babubagan Mudiali Falguni Sangha |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1991 | Kashi Bose Lane Bagbazar Sarbojanin Maddox Square |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1992 | Mudiali Yuba Brinda Sunilnagar |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1993 | Adi Ballygunge Yuba Brinda Kashi Bose Lane |
NA | NA | NA |
| 1994 | Nabapally Telengabagan Sarbojanin Mudiali |
Rammohan Sammilani | NA | NA |
| 1995 | Telengabagan Sarbojanin Kumartuli Park Sunilnagar |
Ballygunge 21 Pally | NA | NA |
| 1996 | Sovabazar Beniatola Ahiritola Rammohan Sammilani |
Kalighat Yuva Maitri | NA | NA |
| 1997 | Ahiritola Chaltabagan Lohapatty Hatibagan Sarbojanin |
Karbagan | NA | NA |
| 1998 | Karbagan Bosepukur Sitalamandir Laketown Adhibashibrindo |
Barisha Sahajatri | NA | NA |
| 1999 | Sovabazar Beniatola Sunilnagar Barisha Tapobon |
Shivmandir Sarbojanin | NA | NA |
| 2000 | Behala Adarshapally Dum Dum Park Tarun Sangha Kankurgachi Nabadai Pally Mangal Samity |
Pathuriaghata 5er Pally | Karbagan | Hatibagan Sarbojanin Shri Sanatan Dinda |
| 2001 | Bosepukur Sitalamandir Laketown Adhibashibrindo Behala Shrishti |
Kankurgachi Youngster | Darpanarayan Tagore Street | Brindaban Matrimandir Shri Upendranath Pal |
| 2002 | Darpanarayan Tagore Street Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati Selimpur Pally |
Barisha Shakti Sangha | Shyamapally Shyama Sangha | Chaltabagan Lohapatty Shri Nepal Pal & Shri Gouranga Pal |
| 2003 | New Alipore Suruchi Sangha Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati Nimtola Ghat Street Sarbojanin |
Laketown Netaji Sporting Club | Khidderpore Pally Sharadiya | Behala Adarshapally Shri Pradip Rudra Pal |
| 2004 | Behala Shrishti Barisha Yubakbrindo Behala Club |
Salt Lake BE Block East | Pathuriaghata 5er Pally | Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda |
| 2005 | Behala Adarshapally Shivmandir Sarbojanin Behala Club |
Swapnar Bagan Yubobrindo | Naktala Udayan Sangha | Behala Adarshapally Shri Pradip Rudra Pal |
| 2006 | Haridevpur 41 Pally Bosepukur Talbagan Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha |
Jawpur Bayam Samity | Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati | Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda |
| 2007 | Khidderpore 25 Pally Pathuriaghata 5er Pally Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha |
Kankurgachi Mitali Sangha | New Alipore Suruchi Sangha | Chakraberia Sarbojanin Shri Purnendu Dey |
| 2008 | Telengabagan Sarbojanin Tangra Gholpara Sarbojanin Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha |
Santoshpur Lakepally Hatibagan Nabinpally |
Naktala Udayan Sangha | Barisha Club Shri Purnendu Dey |
| 2009 | Khidderpore Pally Sharadiya Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra New Alipore Suruchi Sangha |
LalaBagan Nabankur Sangha | Rajdanga Nabodoi Sangha | Santoshpur Lakepally Shri Sunil Pal |
| 2010 | Barisha Club Chakraberia Sarbojanin Vivekananda Park |
Mukul Sangha | Badamtola Ashar Shangha | Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda |
| 2011 | Naktala Udayan Sangha Suruchi Sangha Nalin Sarkar Street |
Naskarpur Sarbojanin | Chakraberia Sarbojanin | Naktala Udayan Sangh Mr. Bhabatosh Sutar |
Most wins:
The collective most wins are by the following Pujas:
- Adi Ballygunge(5)
- Barisha Club(5) *
- Mudiali(4)
- Behala Adarshapally(4)
- New Alipore Suruchi Sangha(4)
- Nalin Sarkar Street(4)
- Naktala Udayan Sangha (4)
- Sunilnagar(3)
- Telengabagan Sarbojanin(3)
- Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati(3)
- Pathuriaghata 5er Pally(3)
- Karbagan(3)
- Laketown Natunpally Pradip Sangha(3)
- Chakraberia Sarbojanin (3)
Among the artisans Sanatan Dinda leads with four wins, one for Hatibagan Sarbojanin and three for Nalin Sarkar Street.
- Barisha Club's collective win is 5. This club is a merge of the former clubs Shrishti and Sahajatri. Sahajatri won 1 award in 1998 and Shrishti won 2 award in 2001 and 2004. Hence together with these awards and the award for 2008 and 2010, their collective win is 5.