Good news for Bengalis celebrating Dussehra outside their hometown! The iconic Durga Pujo of Kolkata, which has been accorded UNESCO’s ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ tag, enters the world of metaverse! With the help of this computer-simulated virtual environment, you can now be a part of Durga Pujo festivities, no matter if you are just a few minutes away from the puja pandals or thousands of miles away from your homeland. So, get ready to witness Durga Pujo in metaverse!
Metaform and XP&DLand collaborated with four popular Durga Pujo pandals in Kolkata – Ahiritola Sarbojanin, Deshapriya Park, Ballygunge Cultural, and Tala Prattay – to make MetaPujo possible.
Mr. Sukrit Singh, the co-founder of Metaform and XP&DLand, said, “the worlds of digital and real life are colliding, where we will constantly toggle between the real and metaverse worlds in the future. This is the first time in history that such a massive festival of devotion has been twinned in the Metaverse.”
Devotees, with the help of metaverse technology, can witness Durga puja rituals from four pandals this year. Also, Mr. Sukrit Singh added that this number will increase to ‘100 next year, and in the near future, every single pandal on the ground will have a metaverse twin for people to experience and enjoy’ Durga Pujo in metaverse.
How Does MetaPujo Work?
When devotees enter ‘Spatial’, the metaverse platform, they will find themselves in a shared social space where pandals are recreated in 3D. This makes it possible for them to witness the puja rituals at these elaborately decorated pandals in real time and seek the blessings of Maa Durga. They can also tour the four pandals together with other devotees who have joined in from across the world. They can also interact with the person next to them in the metaverse land and click pictures together.
Making a meta-realistic avatar of oneself is only a matter of a few minutes for users. One can use smartphones, tablets, etc. to access the metaverse platform for the darshan of larger-than-life Durga Maa idols.
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MetaPujo participants can also claim four NFTs of the Goddess idols (installed at the four pandals) using their Web 3.0 wallets. What’s better? You don’t have to pay a single penny to own these unique NFTs! Yes, XP&DLand is offering them for free. If you are lucky, you might get your hands on one!
So, worry not if you cannot make it home for Dussehra this year. You can be a part of the magnificent Durga Pujo in metaverse! Moreover, you can also reunite with friends and family members back home at the same Durga Puja pandals.
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