Durga Puja

Durga Puja in Kolkata Part 2 – Pandal Hopping & Pet Pujo

Durga Puja, India, Kolkata, Travel, West Bengal / By / July 26, 2021
Durga Idol cover pic 2

Durga Puja may be a religious festival but it is also a time for festivities and celebrations, of family and togetherness, of fun and enjoyment. In my last post, I shared with you the religious part of the festival – the rituals and the lores, the prayers and worship. Today I bring you the fun (and my favorite) parts of this grand festival – the gifts, the pandal hopping and the food.

Gifts

Pre-puja we i.e., Bengalis, embark on a mission of vigorous shopping. We shop for clothes, matching accessories and shoes for ourselves and for all relatives – it’s such fun choosing for parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, siblings. Then we visit each other’s houses to gift these clothes and accept ours in return. For me, since childhood, this has been one of the attractions of puja – new clothes! Donning our new clothes and getting all decked up, we then go out pandal hopping.

Shopping

“Pandal” Hopping

A pandal is essentially a marquee or a tent which is erected during any event or in an open space. But for Durga Puja, a pandal is not a simple marquee – it is an elaborate affair with designs and decorations which are mind-blowing. They are works of art; in fact there are artists hired to envisage a theme and design the pandal. While some pandals are basic structures consisting of interwoven colorful fabric, most are thematic, extravagant edifices which are honestly jaw-dropping. Months are spent in planning and executing those designs which include attention to minute details and the overall picture.

The pandals are the best part of the “pujo” according to me. I brave the sun, the foot aches from the walking and the exhaustion at the end of 5 days just so that I can go around the city and get to see all the marvelous pandals. Below are some of the best ones that I have seen over the years. Pictures speak better than words in describing the awe-inducing craftsmanship and ideation.

  • Pandal decorations made entirely of balloons
  • Ballons have inscriptions on them
  • Idol decoration of balloons as well
  • Cardboard painting decorations
  • Cardboard painting decorations
  • Cardboard painting idol
  • Pandal decoration to represent activity on the water
  • Inside the pandal depicts underwater life
  • Supporting the “Go Green” movement
  • Supporting the “Go Green” movement
  • Supporting the “Go Green” movement
  • Figures made of hemp rope
  • Figures made of hemp rope
  • Representing a bee hive
  • Representing a bee hive
  • Theme: Colour
  • Theme: Colour
  • Theme: Colour
Representing a regional culture in India – food, people, items
  • Culture of Rajasthan
  • Culture of Rajasthan
  • Culture of Rajasthan
  • Culture of Rajasthan
  • Woven figures
  • Handstitched canvas
  • Woven figures
  • Woven figures
  • Woven figure detailing
  • Origami decorations
  • Origami decorations
  • Origami decorations
  • Origami decorations
  • Clay lamp chandelier
  • Various dance forms of India -1
  • Closeup of the a dance form (in a claypot)
  • “Chhau” (masked dance form)
  • “Chhau” (masked dance form)
  • Ode to music – 1
  • Ode to music – 2
  • Cloth flower decorations
  • “Samundra Manthan”
  • Theme: Cartoons
  • Theme: Cartoons
  • Ceiling decoration – 3D map of Kolkata city
  • Ceiling decoration – 3D map of Kolkata city
  • Golden Temple pandal
  • Idol carried on a chariot
Some of the most beautiful Durga idols

Lighting

Apart from the pandals, there is the lighting. The whole city gets decked up in colours and lights during this time. Kolkata is never more beautiful than during Durga Pujo. All pujo have fancy lights to brighten up the decorations but some have intricate lighting panels depicting some story or some figures etc. Some examples here:

The Food

We Bengalis love food. We say we “live to eat, not eat to live”. I totally go by that mantra. The pujas just give us another excuse to splurge out and eat all sorts of food. Be it biryani or chowmein or kosha mangsho (meat curry) or our favorite Kolkata street food fare; cuisine doesn’t matter, we love to gorge on anything delicious! Between all that hopping between pandals, we will do our “pet pujo” meaning, worshipping our appetite. My favorites are:

  • Phuchka: fried puffed flour/semolina balls stuffed with spicy mashed potato and tangy water.
  • Chicken Roll: rolled flat bread stuffed with spicy chicken mixture.
  • Papri Chaat: mini flat flour tacos topped with a mix of potato, onions, peanuts and a sweet-tangy sauce.
  • Fish Fry – deep fried crumbed fish fillets.
  • Chicken roll. (PC: 4.bp.blogpost)
  • Phuchka (PC: Ribbons to pastas)
  • Papri Chaat (PC: The Kolkata Buzz fb page)
  • Chowmein Kolkata style (PC: NDTV food)
  • Fish Fry (PC: Zappfresh)
  • Jhal Muri (puffed rice spiced up with onions, tomato, masala) PC: Jiyo Bangla
Kolkata yummy food!

A Time to Just Be

In the busyness of everyday life, we barely get time to meet friends or family or to simply relax. Durga Puja is, at its root, a time to take a break from the rigors of life. We catch up with friends, meet our extended family, forget our stresses and just enjoy.

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Durga Puja in Kolkata (Part 1)

Durga Puja, Kolkata, West Bengal / By / July 22, 2021
Durga Idol cover pic

It’s October! This means Durga Puja in Kolkata to me. Durga Puja is my absolute favorite festival. This is the time of the year I most look forward to – when I take a trip back to my hometown to celebrate the festival with family and friends. This post is dedicated to “Pujo”, as we Bengalis fondly call it – the “pandals”, the food and the rituals.

Durgotsav

Durgotsav literally translates to “the festival of Durga”. Held during the Bengali month of ashwin (gregorian calendar months of September/October), this festival celebrates Goddess Durga’s victory over the demon, Asura. The lore says, Durga was created by the gods to defeat the king of demons, Mahisasura. She was shaped as an epitome of female strength and was empowered with weapons in her 10 hands for the battle. She fought and emerged triumphant over evil.

Every year Durga, along with her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh, travels to her maternal home for 10 days. These 10 days mark the occasion of Durga Puja though the main celebrations are held from the sixth day, “Shasthi. Five days of festivities follow, at the end of which – on the 10th day, Dasami / Dussera – she returns to her marital home in Kailash (abode of Lord Shiva). This is symbolized by submerging the deity in the waters of the holy river Ganga.

Durja Puja is a sarbajanin festival meaning it is held for the people / masses. Generally they are held in para (colony/block) / area/ locality wise or in apartment buildings /societies rather than in individual houses. In older traditional zaminder families/houses, they are held in respective houses usually in their ancestral homes.

The Rituals

Puja (prayer) is conducted on each of the 5 days of the festival twice a day – morning and evening. Additionally, there are various special rituals carried out each day. Alongside all rituals and prayers, one traditional custom is the beating of drums or “dhaak“. Every year when I hear the dhaak bhajna sounds, it fills me with excitement and joy!

Puja ceremony in a traditional ancestral household
Bringing home Durga maa – on Day 5 “Panchami”
Evening “arati” to the beats of dhaak

Shasthi (Day 6)

This is when the festival officially begins. The devi’s face is unmasked on this day as part of the opening ceremony called bodhon. Then we carry out the“astradaan” ceremony wherein the goddess is armed with her weapons formally. She holds sword, chakra (discuss), trishul (trident), axe, bajra (thunderbolt), khitaka (mace), shankh (conch), padma (lotus), bow and arrow, snake in her 10 hands. Each of the weapons were gifted to her by each of the gods.

Traditional idols of Durga and her family.

Saptami (Day 7)

On this day, we bring home the wife of Ganesh – by bathing and worshipping her on the ghats of Ganga – lovingly called “kolabou snan”.

Kola bou snan

Ashtami (Day 8)

This day – considered to be the most auspicious day – sees us holding prayers at midnight “shandhi puja” by lighting 108 diyas (lamps) and offering 108 freshly bloomed lotuses (Padma ful). This is the day we offer our prayers with flowers at the goddess’ feet – “anjali” – in the morning. “Kumari puja” is also observed on this day when we worship a young girl whom we consider to be the form of the goddess Durga.

Shandhi Pujo

Navami (Day 9)

This is the day we perform the well-known “dhunuchi naach” where evening prayers (“aarti”) are accompanied by dance with incense lamps. This dance is art form in itself. One must watch to know the mesmerizing beauty – and fun! – of it.

Dhunuchi naach

Dasami (Day 10)

The last of the week-long festival (day 10), Dasami, is when womenfolk worship all five gods and goddesses, feed them sweets and water as a final goodbye ceremony. Then there is the playful “sindur khela” where we put vermillion (meaning: sindur) on each other’s faces and foreheads as a form of good wishes. This is a fun ritual which I love to participate in!

The idols are then taken to nearby pools / the Ganga as a procession which goes round the streets with people dancing accompanied by dhaak and shankh sounds as part of the goodbye ceremony. Finally, we immerse the idols in water – “bisarjan” – and bid the goddess and her family adieu with cries of “Bolo dugga ma-i ki jayy!” (meaning: Hail the Mother Durga).

Aasche bocchor abar hobe! (meaning: until next year).

Dasami rituals – last prayers and sweet offerings and sindur-khela. From my apartment puja.
  • Procession
  • Revelries
Visarjan – idol immersion

Shubho Bijoya!

After immersion, we take our elders’ blessing by touching their feet and exchange sweets to end the festival. Over the next few days, we visit family and friends, bringing home made sweet meats and offerings our well wishes and greetings for the year ahead.

So this was about the holy rituals and ceremonies observed during the festival. In the next post, I will be writing about the most fun parts of the “pujo” – the pandals and the food! Happy Puja everyone!

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