Mumbai, Oct 7 (Reporter) The metropolis and its suburbs -- which is home to several lakh Bengali-speaking people -- have braced up for Durga Puja far away from West Bengal. The history of Durga Puja in Mumbai, the ‘Urbs Prima in Indis’, is more than a century old -- when travel to this western Indian state from West Bengal increased. In the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which comprises the twin districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban and large stretches of the neighbouring Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of the coastal Konkan region -- is home to over 150 to 200 Sarvajanik pujas. This year the five-day Durga Puja festival merges with a weekend. In fact, celebrations have already started in a small way with pre-Shasti events. Grand celebrations of Sapatami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami would follow. A lot of people of Maharashtra await the 'pandals' and decorations of Durga Puja -- which comes around a month after the Ganeshotsav, the biggest festival of the state. Besides, the flavour of Navratri festivities of Mumbai, which involves the Gujarati folk dances, dandiya and garba, too, attract the Bengalis. One of the oldest Durga-pooja of Mumbai is held in Kalbadevi – which is predominantly organised by goldsmiths and artisans. Some of the popular pandals include the Durgautsov at Bengal Club at Shivaji Park in Dadar, Bombay Drugabari Samiti’s Sarbojinin Durgautsav at Tejpal auditorium in Grant Road, North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja Samiti in Juhu, Bombay Durga Bari Samiti, Thakur Village Bengali Association of Kandivali, Powai Sharadotsav in Powai, Navi Mumbai Bengali Association in Vashi. Several Bollywood personalities too organise Durga Puja. The Bengali population in this metropolis and its suburbs is nearly five to six lakh, according to an estimate. Such is the dedication to culture that in a far-flung suburb of Vasai there are five Durga Puja celebrations. “Wherever Bengalis have settled, they have started Durga puja.... it started as a small event during the British era and now it has expanded,” said Vasai resident Gautam Chatterjee on Monday. “Big Durga Puja celebrations are held in pockets like Vasai-Virar, Dadar-Parel, Mira Road-Bhayander, Chembur, Thane city, Vashi, Ambernath, Seawoods, Andheri-Bandra, Grant Road and so on," he said, adding that in the 1980s and 1990s, the celebrations widened. "We await the Durga Puja. We feel there are several similarities between Bengal and Maharashtra... the social reforms, contribution in freedom struggle," said M P Joshi, a Maharashtrian-Mumbaikar. "While we celebrate Navratri and play dandiya-garba, we also make it a point to visit Bengali pandals and seek blessings," said Ajit Joshi, a Gujarati writer...////...