Kolkata

Calcutta or Kolkata - My hometown...

With more than 80% recommendation in MS, Calcutta is already in the list of favorite cities of our country. But Kolkata is a city of diversity and I simply can’t write my heart out in a single review on this city. This city has so many aspects good and bad, worth mentioning that are nowhere to be seen that can not be jotted down in a single review. So I start my review on Kolkata with a festive one.

Kolkata - The Home to the Goddess

I think nowhere in the world do people in a city wait that eagerly for the coming of any festival as they do in Kolkata for the Pujas to arrive. The entire city changes to a spectacle sight. The glory of the Goddess spreads an eternal glow over the city.

Much before the onset of the autumn the preparations start to welcome the Goddess. Right after the Rathyatra festival the artisans of the Kumartuli (an area in Calcutta known for making the idols of the Goddess) start with their work of gathering the required materials for making the structures. They start with the straw hatched Kathamo (structure) on which the clay would be coated later to build the clay idols. These artisans then collect the clay to be used for the idols, the first mud is collected from the prostitute locality as per an ancient ritual without which the Goddess is incomplete and cannot be worshiped. These preparations slowly progress.

Meanwhile the other sectors also do not stay behind in their preparations for the Pujas. The traders, the cloth merchants, the shopkeepers, the fashion houses, all put lot of effort to come out with the latest fashion and the best schemes to showcase their outfits for the best bargains. Along with them the sweet corners also start with their experimentation to come out with new varieties of sweets, special Bengali delicacies, popular ones in varied sizes to meet the demands of people from all walks of life. Restaurants and hotels start their plans for the Pujas.

Then comes 17th September, the Vishwakarma Puja (God of industry, architecture and prosperity), as per an old Calcuttan ritual young and old, all fly kites. Industries are closed and Vishwakarma Puja is performed in the factories, shops, street corners etc. After the farewell to the Vishwakarma the city gears up for the awaited occasion. The markets and shops are flooded with the latest outfits. The fashion houses come up with their latest offerings and bargains. The streets get jammed with people doing their Puja Bazaar.

Shopkeeper: aachha (OK)

Whilst, in the kumartuli, the idols have started taking their final shapes, the paint on these idols have started. The Puja Associations chalk down their plans and geer up with Puja Chanda collection from their respective localities (money collection as these are locality pujas, everybody pays). The pandals start taking the final shapes. With each pandal striving to build the best, creativity and imagination is at its peak. Dont get surprised to see a Dilwara Temple of Mt. Abu at a street corner. A Kathakali village, a Monastery, the Kedarnath Temple or Gujrati, Rajastahni artforms in any part of the streets. Pandals made of icecream sticks, straw, earthen pots, terracotta, cloth strips, ribbons can be seen in any part of the city.

Just seven days before the Pujas comes the Mahalayas (the end of Pitri paksha and beginning of Devi pakshas). Millions of people go to the Hoogly to take a Holy dip and pay homage to their ancestors. In the Kumartuli, the specialist artisan paints the Eyes of the Durga, as it is called the Chakshu daan. From Tritiya onwards the Sealdah station is crowded by the Dhakis (people who play the dhak), the organizers from different Puja pandals arrive to bargain with them the best match is made and they are escorted to the pandals where they stay till the Goddess is immersed. Some of these dhakis actually earn the most of their yearly earnings during the Pujas. The streets are lighted up with colorful lights by special craftsmen from the Chandernagar (a locality known for lighting craftsmanship). The entire city glazes up to welcome the Goddess. With Panchami the Goddess makes her way to the different pandals. Huge processions are taken out to carry the huge idols to their respective destinations.

With the Shasti morning sunrise you wake up to the beats of the Dhaks....

dhitang, dhitang, dhak di dhitang

The entire mood changes to a brighter and better one. There’s a smile in every face in the streets. The streets become colorful with every body wearing their best outfits, the chirpy kids running around the pandals, glittering eyes of the people. An overall mesmerizing and spiritual feeling. The evennings are even brighter and colorful. Millions of people thronging the various pandals to glimpse the best creative artistry.

Q: na, tabe Shristi dekhechhi, byapok korechhe (no, but I’ve seen Shristi pandal, its beautiful)

Nowadays special efforts are made to make Pujas enjoyable for the not so blessed ones, the street children. Many NGOs, Bangla TV channels and even Puja organizers put an earnest effort to take these children on an outing to the pandals and spend some amount from their chanda for their well being.

The good days don’t last long so does the Puja days, the Saptami, Ashtami passes very fast and then comes the Nabami evening. A solemnity spreads all around, every soul knows that its the last day and they have to wait for another year. In Dashami the Goddess is bid farewell with numb eyes and tears and a choked throat. The huge structures are taken out in processions and immersed in the Hoogli. The much-awaited Puja is over but the festivity remains till Bhai Phonta (Bhai Dujh).

In Calcutta Durga Puja is no longer a Puja for the Hindu Bengalis, its an overall festival for everybody, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim or Christian. Bengali or non-Bengali. Even in places where the Hindu population is scarce a Puja takes place. Localities in the city where only a handful of Benaglis a stay, Puja is done by people from other regions. Puja is no longer a Bengali or Calcutta affair, the charm, festivity and spirit of Pujas have spread worldwide, Delhi, Mumbai, London, New York, Sydney and to many other places.

But wherever it may go the roots are always in Kolkata, the Home to the Goddess

Dashapraharana dharini

Vande Mataram