I visited around 50+ Pandals in my visit to Kolkata this Durga Puja. All kinds of different Pandals with different themes. But there is one thing that I noticed across all of them that was super strange. Female Gods never wear slippers. (Or never depicted with slippers). I mean NEVER. Most times male gods as … Continue reading Why do female gods not wear slippers?

We were driving to a Pandal and on the way we just saw this Pandal. It looked very different and so we stopped to see what it was. It was a full depiction of Old Calcutta. The pandal was setup by North Kolkata Sarbojanin. The theme was Jolchhaper Kolkata (Kolkata in watermarks). Even the Durga … Continue reading Pandal – 26, 27 – Old Calcutta Pandal

We were just out of a Pandal which was modern, radically different at Tala Prattoy. We then reach this Pandal. This is a Pandal which is just built on the street. The theme is Jalalipi (Water script). The installation is about us polluting rivers. More like a question, Rivers have done so much for humans, … Continue reading Pandal – 24 – Nalin Sarkar Street

We decided we will go to the Pandals only in the morning as the evenings were super crowded. The exterior lights cannot be witnessed but it’s a good trade off as we can see the interiors in peace without any crowd. The interiors feel the same during the day and night as it’s usually fully … Continue reading Pandal – 23 – Floating Durga

Today morning was planned to go to Dhakshineshwar - the place where Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a priest. The temple is on the banks of the Hoogly river. Right across the Hoogly river, is Belur Matt, the place Vivekananda built. No phones were allowed in the temple. There was a huge queue to see the goddess … Continue reading Ramakrishna day

The next pandal was 66 Pally. It was a Pandal that was dedicated to the freedom fighters of Bengal. The theme was Tomar Pore Thekai Matha. Tomar Pore Thekai Matha is the first line of one of a poem of Rabindranath Tagore. It’s a poem about patriotism. In this Pandal, the Durga was mother India. … Continue reading Pandal – 15, 16 – Badamtala Ashar Sangha & 66 Pally

Every Durga Puja Pandal has a Ganesha figure/statue. However the way the Ganesha is depicted is very different from how he is depicted in the south. Yes, elephant head, big tummy, multiple hands. But somehow the Bengali Ganesha looks unhealthy. Like a fat uncle who needs to go on weight loss. Visceral fat tending at … Continue reading Ganesha Uncle

The next two were short yet different Pandals. The first one was Kalighat. The theme was 64 Rupini. It had 64 forms of Durga. Each form was sculpted and kept along the way. The final main Durga idol was very different. She was sitting on Mahisasura and was piercing his chest at the same time. … Continue reading Pandal – 13, 14 – Kalighat

In Kolkata every street has not one but many Pandals. If you take a short stroll, you will see atleast 2-3 in an hour. That’s again if you are not stuck waiting in queues. We wanted to go to this place called Suruchi Sangha. But on the way we saw a Pandal. Pandal - 9 … Continue reading Pandal 9, 10, 11, 12 – Suruchi Sangha & Others

This was a Pandal which has live theatre, music along with art. Usual Pandals are art installations with music that is in sync with the installation theme. Sometimes there is live music (like a band singing etc.) This was different. The theme is this Pandal was Ramayan and there were live theatre artists who were … Continue reading Pandal – 8 – Alipore Sarbojanin

This was a quick Pandal visit. We were already over stimulated mentally after the Salt Lane FD Block Pandal. So to wear things down we took a walk. This BJ Block Pandal is one of those whose exterior is super grand but the interior is okish. Like the Sreebhumi one. The theme was the Somnath … Continue reading Pandal – 7 – Salt Lake BJ Block

Words cannot explain how amazing this Pandal is. My wife came out of the pandal and said she got goosebumps inside her brain. Not sure what that means but I think you can imagine that it’s a different experience altogether. The theme of this Pandal is Nakshi Kanthar Math. It’s a world of Gond Art. … Continue reading Pandal – 6 – Salt Lake FD Block

I don’t know if it’s a Kolkata thing in general or it’s just a Kolkata Taxi driver thing. Almost every taxi driver when had a conversation with talks about Politics. There are multiple ways in which they start the conversation and bring it to politics. Or I should say, wherever the conversation starts, it ends … Continue reading Taxi Drivers’ obsession with Politics

From the time we landed, and even before we landed, everyone was talking about the Sreebhumi Pandal. Sreebhumi, Sreebhumi. Side note, the spelling of Sreebhumi (the way it’s written in Bengal) is super confusing for a South Indian like me. I would have spelt it ShriBhoomi, Sri Bhoomi. The “i” Sri gets replaced with “ee” … Continue reading Pandal – 4, 5 – Sreebhumi

This one was just out of the world. The theme of this Pandal was Beniya Katha · Stories of the merchants. It featured ships, sailors, traders and trade routes. The Durga was made of clay in its raw colour. This place would look even better at night with all the lighting. But we had the … Continue reading Pandal – 3 – Dum Dum Park Tarun Sangha

This is the most advertised product in Kolkata. Every damn actor and some actresses can be seen advertising every other baniyan brand in the country. Some brands, I was not even aware of. It’s not strange that in this hot, humid weather, this is probably the most sold product. The need for it transcends age, … Continue reading Baniyan

Next we walked to a Pandal close by. At first sight it felt like the temple or miniature fort. Later we got to know after talking to some locals that this is in the theme of a chariots. In Bengali, “Roth Kotha”. The entire Pandal looks like a chariot. Pulled by horses. And the Durga … Continue reading Pandal 2 – Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra