Asian Paints Sharad Shamman

Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman
Awarded for	Excellence in artistic achievements
Country	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Presented by	Asian Paints
First awarded	October, 1985
Website	www.asianpaints.com

Asian Paints Sharad Shamman (Bengali: এশিয়ান পেইন্টস শারদ সম্মান) 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 trendsetter 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 Kolkata. 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.

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 four 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 (Nobbo Nakshi)", which focussed on the Best decorated Pandal, and "Best Artisan", given to the artist of the Best looking Idol. In 2010, the "Creative Excellence" was renamed to "Innovative Excellence" and it was continued for five years. Although in 2015, the Asian Paints committee didn't pick any puja for "Innovative Excellence" but the number of awards remained unaltered by introducing one more puja in "Discovery of the year" category. Keeping in mind the large growth and globalization in Kolkata Durga Puja, Asian Paints committee introduced another special award namely "Special Jury Award" on overall excellence. At present these seven categories (three for Best Pujas, two for Discovery of the year, one for Best Artisan and one for Special Award) 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. In 2020, due to nationwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Paints Sharad Shamman judges didn't make a physical appearance on the participating pandels, the whole process had been successfully organised online by the APSS committee.

Best Puja (Shrestho Pujo)

years active (1985–present)

New Alipore Suruchi Sangha which won Best Puja in 2003 and Creative Excellence in 2007

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.

'Shabdo-Kalpo' by Bhabatosh Sutar at Pradeep Sangha is considered to be the most breakthrough work leading the durga puja installation art to a different level.

Among the asian paints sharad samman winners (see the above list "Most wins") "Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha" is the first puja committee who had win the prestigious durga puja award (Best Puja or, Shrestho Pujo) for consecutive three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) for the first time in North Kolkata and for the second time in Kolkata after Adi Ballygunge. In 2019, another puja from North Kolkata namely "Talapark Pratyay" also achieved this unique record after "Natunpally Pradeep Sangha". Till date "Suruchi Sangha", "Naktala Udayan Sangha" and "Behala Natun Dal" had also achieved the award for three consecutive years.

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. Rammohan Sammilani won the discovery of the year in 1994.

Creative Excellence (Nobbo Nakshi)

years active (2000–present)
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 2001. 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", Shri Purnendu Dey who won two awards, one for "Chakraberia Sarbojanin" in 2007 and for "Barisha Club" in 2008, Shri Subrata Banerjee who won two awards for "Tala Barowari" in 2015 and 2016 and Mr. Bhabotosh Sutar who won two awards for Naktala Udayan Sangha in 2011 and for Suruchi Sangha in 2019. Behala Adarshapally won both the categories of Best Puja and Best Artisan in 2005. Special Award(Bisesh Shamman)

the special jury award on overall excellence. [1]

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 cheque. 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.
From 2016, the design of the prestigious Asian Paints Sharad Samman statuette has been modified making it more attractive and glowing. It now looks like a lotus with a stand holding it with a pedestal which is enclosed in a glass box. The height of the statuette has been enhanced as compared to the previous one.

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 Durga 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.

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 and their artists for Asian Paints Sharad Shamman from the past 34 years.

Year	Best Puja	Discovery of the Year	Creative Excellence	Best Artisan	Emerging New Artist	Special Award
1985	Jodhpur Park, Adi Ballygunge, Maddox Square	NA	NA	NA	NA
1986	College Square, Adi Ballygunge, Bagbazar Sarbojanin	NA	NA	NA	NA
1987	College Square, Vivekananda Sporting Club, Adi Ballugunge	NA	NA	NA	NA
1988	Beliaghata Sarir Sangathon, Adi Ballygunge, Mudiali	NA	NA	NA	NA
1989	Babubagan, Nabapally, Shimla Byam Samiti - Shri Mohan Banshi Rudra Pal	NA	NA	NA	NA
1990	Babubagan, Mudiali, Falguni Sangha	NA	NA	NA	NA
1991	Kashi Bose Lane, Bagbazar Sarbojanin, Maddox Square	NA	NA	NA	NA
1992	Mudiali, Yuba Brinda, Sunilnagar	NA	NA	NA	NA
1993	Adi Ballygunge, Yuba Brinda, Kashi Bose Lane	NA	NA	NA	NA
1994	Nabapally, Telengabagan Sarbojanin, Mudiali	Rammohan Sammilani	NA	NA	NA
1995	Telengabagan Sarbojanin - Shri Pradip Rudra Pal, Kumartuli Park - Shri Sutanu Maity, Sunilnagar - Shri Bandan Raha	Ballygunge 21 Pally - Shri Buku Munsi	NA	NA	NA
1996	Sovabazar Beniatola - Shri Tapas Basu, Ahiritola Sarbojanin - Shri Sutanu Maity, Rammohan Sammilani - Bharatmata Decorators (Contai), Shri Krisha Pal (Kumartuli)	Kalighat Yuva Maitri - Shri Bhramar Mitra	NA	NA	NA
1997	Ahiritola - Shri Sutanu Maity Chaltabagan Lohapatty - Shri Sutanu Maity, Hatibagan Sarbojanin - Shri Sukhendu Mukherjee	Karbagan - Shri Bandan Raha	NA	NA	NA
1998	Karbagan - Shri Bholanath Kalsi, Bosepukur Sitalamandir - Shri Bandan Raha, Laketown Adhibashibrindo - Shri Bhaskar Bandyopadhyay	Barisha Sahajatri - Deben Laha, Shruti Laha & Susanta Paul	NA	NA	NA
1999	Sovabazar Beniatola - Shri Sanjoy Chakraborty, Sunilnagar - Shri Pradip De, Barisha Tapobon - Shri Amar Sarkar	Shivmandir Sarbojanin - Shri Sanjit Ghosh	NA	NA	NA
2000	Behala Adarshapally - Club Members, Dum Dum Park Tarun Sangha - Shri Rupchand Kundu, Kankurgachi Nabadai Pally Mangal Samity - Shri Saumya Bandyopadhyay	Pathuriaghata 5er Pally - Shri Ashutosh Shi	Karbagan - Shri Kamal Naskar	Hatibagan Sarbojanin Shri Sanatan Dinda	NA
2001	Bosepukur Sitalamandir - Shri Bandan Raha, Laketown Adhibashibrindo - Shri Amal Roy, Barisha Shrishti - Shri Amar Sarkar	Kankurgachi Youngster - Shri Gopal Podder	Darpanarayan Tagore Street - Shri Prasanta Pal	Brindaban Matrimandir Shri Upendranath Pal	NA
2002	Darpanarayan Tagore Street - Shri Prasanta Pal, Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati - Shri Amar Sarkar, Selimpur Pally - Shri Gopal Podder	Barisha Shakti Sangha - Shri Partha Dasgupta & Barisha Silpara Art Association	Shyamapally Shyama Sangha - Shri Samir Aich	Chaltabagan Lohapatty Shri Nepal Pal & Shri Gouranga Pal	NA
2003	New Alipore Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subodh Roy, Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati - Shri Amar Sarkar, Nimtola Ghat Street Sarbojanin - Shri Kamaldeep Dhar	Laketown Netaji Sporting Club - Shri Sanjit Ghosh	Khidderpore Pally Sharadiya - Club Members	Behala Adarshapally Shri Pradip Rudra Pal	NA
2004	Barisha Shrishti - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar, Barisha Yubakbrindo - Shri Rabin Roy, Behala Club - Shri Amar Sarkar	Salt Lake BE Block East - Shri Nirmal Malick	Pathuriaghata 5er Pally - Shri Prasanta Pal	Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda	NA
2005	Behala Adarshapally - Shri Partha Dasgupta Shivmandir Sarbojanin - Shri Purnendu De Behala Club - Shri Amar Sarkar	Swapnar Bagan Yubobrindo - Shri Somnath Mukherjee	Naktala Udayan Sangha - Shri Susanta Paul	Behala Adarshapally Shri Pradip Rudra Pal	NA
2006	Haridevpur 41 Pally - Shri Bivas Mukherjee Bosepukur Talbagan - Shri Prasanta Pal Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar	Jawpur Bayam Samity - Shri Snehangshu Shekhar Das	Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati - Shri Amar Sarkar	Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda	NA
2007	Khidderpore 25 Pally - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Pathuriaghata 5er Pally - Shri Gouranga Kuila Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha - Shri Prasanta Pal	Kankurgachi Mitali Sangha - Shri Prasanta Pal	New Alipore Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subodh Roy	Chakraberia Sarbojanin Shri Purnendu Dey	NA
2008	Telengabagan Sarbojanin - Shri Gopal Podder Tangra Gholpara Sarbojanin - Shri Subrata Banerjee Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha - Shri Prasanta Pal	Santoshpur Lakepally - Shri Susanta Paul Hatibagan Nabinpally - Shri Kamaldeep Dhar	Naktala Udayan Sangha - Shri Susanta Paul	Barisha Club Shri Purnendu Dey	NA
2009	Khidderpore Pally Sharadiya - Shri Prasanta Pal Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra - Shri Gouranga Kuila New Alipore Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subodh Roy	LalaBagan Nabankur Sangha - Shri Prasanta Pal	Rajdanga Nabodoi Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar	Santoshpur Lakepally Shri Susanta Paul	NA
2010	Barisha Club - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar (Environmental Art) Chakraberia Sarbojanin - Shri Shibsankar Das Vivekananda Park - Shri Susanta Paul	Mukul Sangha - Shri Biswanath Dey	Badamtola Ashar Shangha - Shri Susanta Paul	Nalin Sarkar Street Shri Sanatan Dinda	NA
2011	Naktala Udayan Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Suruchi Sangha- Shri Subrata Banerjee Nalin Sarkar Street - Shri Sanatan Dinda	Naskarpur Sarbojanin - Shri Sanjib Saha	Chakraberia Sarbojanin - Shri Shibsankar Das & Shri Sanatan Dinda	Naktala Udayan Sangha Shri Bhabatosh Sutar	NA
2012	Naktala Udyan Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Shivmandir Sarbojanin - Shri Subrata Banerjee Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee	Tridhara Sammilani - Shri Gouranga Kuila	Bandhusree - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar (Environmental Art)	Barisha Club Shri Sanatan Dinda	NA
2013	Naktala Udyan Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Ultadanga Sangrami - Shri Prasanta Pal Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee	Tala Barowari - Shri Amar Sarkar	N/A	Suruchi Sangha Shri Naba Paul	Hindusthan Park Sarbojanin Shri Arun Paul
2014	Behala Buroshibtala Janakalya Sangha - Shri Shakti Sharma Kankurgachhi Jubak Brinda Sarbojanin Durgotsab - Shri Anirban Das Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee	Netaji Jatiya Sebadal - Shri Tanmoy Chakraborty	N/A	Abasar Sarbojanin Durgotsab Shri Gouranga Kuila	Kalighat Nepal Bhattacharjee Street Club Shri Kanchi Paul
2015	Selimpur Pally - Shri Susanta Paul Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee Chetla Agrani - Shri Sanatan Dinda	Behala Nutan Dal - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Behala Friends - Shri Susanta Paul	N/A	Tala Barowari Shri Subrata Banerjee	N/A
2016	Behala Nutan Dal - Shri Partha Dasgupta Chetla Agrani Club - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Naktala Udayan Sangha - Shri Susanta Paul	66 Pally Club - Shri Purnendu De State Bank Park Sarbojanin Durgotsob - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar	N/A	Tala Barowari Shri Subrata banerjee	N/A	Shibmandir Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samiti - Shri Bimal Samanta
2017	Tala Park Pratyay - Shri Debasis Barui Abasar Sarbojanin - Shri Subrata Banerjee Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee	Kumartuli Sarbojanin - Shri Parimal Paul Prafulla Kanan Poschim Adhibasi Brinda - Shri Purnendu De	N/A	Behala Nutan Dal Shri Pradip Das Jogen Chowdhury	N/A	Nalin Sarkar Street Sarbojanin Durgotsab - Shri Rintu Das
2018	Tala Park Pratyay - Shri Debasis Barui 95 Pally Sarbojanin Durgotsab - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar 66 Palli Club - Shri Aditi Chakraborty	Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Chorebagan Sarbojanin - Shri Debtosh Kar	N/A	Behala Nutan Dal Abin Chaudhury Narayan Sinha	N/A	Suruchi Sangha - Shri Subrata Banerjee
2019	Tala Park Pratyay - Shri Susanta Paul Naktala Udayan Sangha - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Barisha Club - Shri Rintu Das	Wellington Nagarik Kalyan Samity - Shri Sanjib Saha & Shri Dipanjan De Samaj Sebi Sangha - Shri Pradip Das	N/A	Suruchi Sangha Shri Bhabatosh Sutar	N/A	Thakurpukur State Bank Park Sarbojanin - Shri Partha Dasgupta
2020	Samaj Sebi Sangha - Shri Pradip Das Thakurpukur State bank Park Sarbajanin - Shri Partha Dasgupta Barisha Club - Shri Rintu Das Kidderpore Pally Saradiya - Shri Raju Sarkar Badamtala Ashar Sangha - Shri Snehasish Maity	Masterda Smriti Sangha - Shri Manas Ray	N/A	Hatibagan Sarbojanin - Shri Sanjib Saha	N/A	N/A
2021	95 Pally Jodhpur Park - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Kankurgachhi Jubak Brinda - Shri Pradip Das Tala Park Prattoy - Shri Susanta Paul Dumdum Park Sarbojanin Durgotsab - Shri Krishanu Pal	Jagat Mukherjee Park - Shri Subal Paul	N/A	Kashi Bose Lane - Shrimati Aditi Chakraborty	N/A	N/A
2022	Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Vivekananda Park Athletic Club - Shri Susanta Paul & Shri Adhir Paul (Idol artist) Thakurpukur State Bank Park Sarbojanin - Shri Partha Dasgupta Chorebagan Sarbojanin - Shri Bimal Samanta & Shri Subrata Mridha (Idol artist) Chetla Agrani Club - Shri Subrata Banerjee	Dumdum Tarun Dal - Shri Pradip Das & Shri Pintu Sikdar	N/A	Nalin Sarkar Street Sarbojanin - Shri Manas Das & Shri Subrata Mridha (Idol artist)
2023	Arjupur Amra Sabai - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Dumdum Tarun Dal - Shri Pradip Das Hatibagan Nabin Pally - Shri Anirban Das Purbachal Sakti Sangha - Shri Partha Das Gupta Tala Prattoy - Shri Susanta Paul	Dakshindari Youths - Shri Anirban Das	N/A	Chorebagan Sarbojanin - Shri Subrata Mridha (idol artist) and Shri Debasish Barui (theme artist)	N/A	N/A
2024	Salt Lake A.K. Block Association - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Alipore Sarbojanin - Shri Anirban Das Arjunpur Amra Sabai - Shri Bhabatosh Sutar Purbachal Sakti Sangha - Shri Partha Das Gupta Tala Prattoy - Shri Susanta Paul	Dakshinpara Durgotsab Committee - Shri Debasish Barui	N/A	Behala Club- Shri Pintu Sikdar (Idol Artist) and Shri Pradip Das (Theme Artist)	N/A	N/A

Most wins:
The collective most wins are by the following Pujas:

• New Alipore Suruchi Sangha (12)
• Naktala Udayan Sangha (7)
• Barisha Club (7) *
• Nalin Sarkar Street (6)
• Tala Park Pratyay (6)
• Adi Ballygunge (5)
• Mudiali (4)
• Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club (5)
• Behala Adarshapally (4)
• Shibmandir Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samiti (4)
• Behala Natun Dal (4)
• State Bank Park Sarbojanin Durgotsob (4)
• Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha (3)
• Tala Barowari (3)
• Sunilnagar (3)
• Telengabagan Sarbojanin (3)
• Haridevpur Ajeya Sanghati (3)
• Pathuriaghata 5er Pally (3)
• Karbagan (3)
• Chakraberia Sarbojanin (3)
• Kidderpore Pally Saradiya (3)
• Hatibagan Sarbojanin (3)
• Behala Club (3)
• Kashi Bose Lane (3)
• Chetla Agrani Club (3)
• Chorebagan Sarbojanin (3)

Among the artisans Sanatan Dinda leads with five wins, one for Hatibagan Sarbojanin, another for Barisha Club and three for Nalin Sarkar Street.

Amar Sarkar has 3 wins for Ajeya Sanghati

• Barisha Club's collective win is 7. This club is a merge of the former clubs Shrishti and Sahajatri. Sahajatri won one award in 1998 and Shrishti won two awards in 2001 and 2004. Hence together with these awards and the award for 2008, 2010 and 2012 ,2020
• Among the asian paints sharad samman winners (see the above list "Most wins") Laketown Natunpally Pradeep Sangha is the first puja committee who had win the prestigious durga puja award for consecutive three years (2006, 2007 and 2008). This rare record was broken by two prestigious Puja committee "Naktala Udayan Sangha" and "Suruchi Sangha".

External links

• Official Asian Paints Sharad Shamman site