SUNNYVALE: The Sunnyvale Hindu Temple here celebrated Durga Puja for the first time, claiming that its idol was the tallest in North America.

Durga Puja was conducted for five days last week in an authentic way as it is celebrated in India. It was celebrated in collaboration with Paschimi, a cultural organization in Silicon Valley composed of mainly Bengali Indian-Americans from Northern California that organizes Indian cultural and religious events.

"This is the first time Sunnyvale Temple is organizing a separate Durga Puja - because of the community involvement," temple founding board member Raj Bhanot told the Seattle-based PlanetGuru weekly.

The Durga idol was tallest in North America, according to the organizers. The idol was brought from Kumartuli, Kolkata. The priests specially brought for the occasion were Pandit HK Bhattacharya from Kolkata and Pandit AK Ganguly from New Jersey.

"The Durga Puja is a complete community event - open to every one, and many people from all states of India are taking part," said Reena Chatterjee of Sunnyvale.

"The Durga Puja went quite well and there was a good turnout," said Arun Gupta, a regular temple attendee with his family. "For a Durga Puja event conducted for the first time - with over 30 volunteers - it was successful."