Kolkata mango festival delights young and old alike

Kolkata is crazy for festivals and it is immaterial whether it is for books or movies or music or fish or food. There was a hilsa festival and now, the recently concluded Amantran festival (27th and 28th June 2015) was another example – it was a festival of mangoes or ‘aam’ – hence, the name ‘Amantran’. Actually, the word also means invitation.
Anyway, I was not there in person but enjoyed watching bits of it on TV and it appeared to be yet another proof of the innovate character of Bengalis. A video report on the festival is here.

The event was held in a park called the Taltala Math – and mango lovers had come to watch the innovations and taste the beautiful preparations – the mango-fuchka really bowled over the public. There is hardly any Bengali who is not a fan of the fast food known as fuchka (or gol-gappas as the North Indians call them) and, in the Amantran festival the delightful concoction was mango all the way. Then there were the sweets made of mangoes. In our childhood we loved the taste of mango sandesh – its color was green, its shape was like a mango (thanks to special clay or wooden molds) and there was the distinct flavor of mango. Other well-known and popular products of mango were the mango lassi and ice-cream. And, of course, in the festival there were mangoes of many varieties – both ripe and raw. I remember a mango festival that I had seen in Bangalore. It was held in the Glass House at Lalbag and there was a large variety of mangoes. But – no eatable products of mangoes. It was only mangoes – full, ripe and charming to just look at. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)
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