It is festival time in Kolkata with Navratri and Durga Puja

West Bengal and its capital Kolkata are famous for the large-scale, opulent pujas. The organizers work night and day to present artistic creations that attract people from not just different parts of Bengal and from all over the country, but even globally. This has been made possible because of the recognition accorded by UNESCO in 2021. It has granted recognition in the form of Heritage Status to 'Durga Puja in Kolkata.' This is inscribed in its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Those who plan a trip to Kolkata during the festival can expect memorable experiences of gorging on yummy food, praying to Goddess Durga, pandal hopping, and loving every bit of the festivities. These are what Durga puja is all about. Eat, pray, love! 5 things to do while visiting Kolkata during Durga Puja 2022; visit THESE top 20 pandals. It has to be remembered that pandal hopping translates into crowds and hot and humid surroundings. It is better to wear comfortable footwear because you might have to walk long distances and remain in queue for a long time to get a darshan of the idols and the magnificent pandals.

There is a craze among some people to visit 'Bonedi bari' puja. These are family pujas dating back to centuries and involve aristocratic households. There is no commercialization and they do not go in for glamor and glitz of the baroyari pujas. The number of such families is few and the uniqueness is that on this annual festival, members of the family come together from far corners of the world. These turn out to be unforgettable homecomings. Of course, food lovers enjoy street foods, sweets and eating out at the city's famous restaurants. From fuchka (or the gol gappa or pani puri) to jhal muri (puffed rice with special spices) and the famous Kolkata roll – the list is a long one. In many restaurants, food lovers may have to wait in queues for their turn.

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Durga Puja and senior citizens of Kolkata

Durga Puja and senior citizens of Kolkata

In the fast-paced world of today, most of the senior citizens belong to a neglected lot. Their families do not want to recognize their presence and they might even discover themselves in old age homes. It could have been forced upon them due to circumstances beyond their control. Or - they might have opted for such an existence in order to survive. During a major festival like the Durga Puja, old timers in this category deserve a better deal. It is not possible for them to negotiate crowded streets, serpentine queues at pandals and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ultimately, many of them have no other alternative but to stay at home. This has led to the creation of groups who arrange to take them around and bring some cheer into their lives. Hand in hand with senior citizens for pandal-hopping. Many of these organizations arrange special packages for the elderly on special days. They offer visit to prestigious venues of the Pujas and these are not cheap.

Those who plan such outings have to keep in mind the safety and comfort of the senior citizens. Usually, they travel in air-conditioned buses with packed breakfast along with bottled water and beverages. The organizers keep ready nursing assistants, wheelchairs, medical kits etcetera and adhere to all COVID precautions. The itinerary avoids crowded and congested roads. There are also charity organizations that take around senior citizens and especially abled persons. Enthusiastic professionals from various occupations usually conduct activities of this nature. They arrange to distribute new clothes to the needy and try to bring some cheer in their dull lives.

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The pandal hoppers of Kolkata

Pandal hopping is a relatively new concept that has begun a couple of decades back in Kolkata. Given the number of Durga Pujas held in only Kolkata and the desire of people to go and have a look at the latest artistic features and designs of the idols and the pandals, a new breed of enthusiasts have come up. These are the pandal hoppers who form groups and hop from one pandal to another to catch the excitement.
This activity begins from the Mahalaya when some important pandals carry out inauguration through celebrities who range from local politicians to stalwarts of the literary fields or the silver screens and, in some cases, sports persons. Then there are the mandatory judges who are roped in to assign marks to the top Puja pandals – the criterion for assigning marks could be the decorations, the uniqueness of the idols, and the special emphasis on environment or social messages and agendas.

Once the awards like ‘Super Star’, ‘Mega Star’ etcetera are announced, the crowds begin to pour in and, the more the footfalls, the more is happiness all around because the sponsors rake in the moolah and the organizers are assured of continued patronage from big names.
Due to the huge crowds milling around the venues, those who use vehicles have to park the same a distance away and have to walk. These groups could be people of the same family or group of friends. And, since the attraction of the pandals is not only the decorations but also the display of colored lights, the hoppers must select darkness. That they do by timing their hopping late in the night – when the venues are less crowded and restriction on parking of vehicles is not there.
Needless to say, those who opt for late night hopping are a boisterous lot – they want to enjoy and leave no stone unturned to make the hopping a memorable one. With four nights at their disposal, they draw up their plans on which area to visit when. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Durga Puja is the major festival of Bengalis and, over the years, it has undergone numerous changes. My memories of this festival goes back to the time when the number of Pujas were few and those who loved to go pandal hopping could do so with ease.

For me and my brothers, we would go with our father to the most famous pujas of the day – and these included the ones in Baghbazar, Beadon Street and the Calcutta Fire Brigade. These three were must-see ones in North Calcutta mostly because the idol makers of Kumortuli would invariably bring in variety and new themes in the idols and their presentations.
Once the Durga idol in Beadon Street remained unpainted and the postures of the idols gave an impression of frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora caves.
Then Asura, the Demon King, was shown kneeling down in front of Goddess Durga begging for his life and Durga had one of her hands raised as if blessing Asura.
Of course, the festivals in those days relied on decorations in the pandals to attract the people unlike today when it is all about lighting.

And – all leading newspapers would have pages devoted to the Durga images from different locations and eager visitors would take decisions on which pandals to visit. (to be continued …)