Durga Puja- emotional prelude to the much awaited festival
Durga Puja symbolises home coming, it is an intricate affair through several rituals that are performed religiously.
Calcutta truly has a vibe of its own and in the month of October, with the monsoon beating a retreat there is a nip in the air marking the harbinger of the season of festivities and celebration. The azure sky laughs with its feather like clouds travelling along the ocean of infinity, a golden shadow on the leaves of the trees, soft and murmuring cold breeze in the pleasant weather and the pastoral green fields stretched to meet the hypnotising beauty of the Autumn Sky, reflects the end of the cruel summer creating a celestial mood in Nature for the celebration of Home Coming.
Wandering Eyes
With happy feet and an aching heart, the city waits for the whole year to celebrate the auspicious five days of festivities. Excited eyes enjoy wandering around the city, pandal hoping and getting soaked in the festive feeling and tradition.
Durga Puja, it all began as a celebration of the victory of good over evil, when the Hindu Goddess Ma Durga triumphs over demon, Mahisasura in her prolonged battle to protect the world. Today, however the celebration is no longer limited to just religious sentiment and invocation of spiritual environment, instead it is now a way of life where each individual embraces puja and pays homage through its nuances and cultural connotations.
In 2021, soon after UNESCO declared the festival as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity turning the five days in the month of October turned even bigger, better, and merrier. It is now celebration of Bengal’s cultural heritage, home coming and soul searching through sensitive art and craftsmanship distributed along the streets and lanes of the city. The city prepares to welcome Ma Durga with her four children.
Indulgence
The celebration begins with vibrant craftsmanship as artisans around the city settles down to shape idols to be worshipped in the pandals or temporary fabricated structures that are erected for worshipping Maa Durga and perform rituals. Apart from the ritualistic invocation, the temporary structures or pandals are the finest temporary art installation merging a one of the World’s biggest public art festivals that brings the city to a standstill for almost a week.
The infectious energy of the city people is noticed as thousands of visitors dressed in their best are out on the street hopping from one pandal to another through the day and night enjoying fun, food, and extravaganza. The city comes alive for 24 x7.
Come to Kolkata to and experience the fun of pandal hopping, with the undying pulse of the city and witness how artisans can turn a concept to reality. The creative spark runs through the veins of the city as artisans reimagine ways of attracting crowd through innovative themes each year. The preparation begins.
