10 Reasons Why Kolkata is the Best Place to Be During Durga Puja

BENGALURU: Reach any nook and crevice of the country and you will find at least one enormous Durga Puja celebration happening. Yet, none can break the close connect of this festival with the city of Kolkata.

When the idol is same, rituals are similar too, then how exactly does the City of Joy stand out when it comes to Devi Durga?

The sort, kind and way the city participates in this festival are hard to believe until one experiences it. Among the several reasons for which Kolkata is the best city to be when it comes to Durga Puja. Here are ten highlights that will surely compel you to check the ticket prices to the capital of Bengal now.

Bhog/Prasadaam

Along with the biriyani, phuchkas and rolls, the new added attraction during this phase is the ‘Bhog’. Bhog implies the food and sweets that is offered to the Goddess of Power during the course of the festival. Usually in rest of the country you get it only on the eighth day of Durga Puja. Here you can relish it all through the five days, with both vegetarian and non vegetarian variety. Some Bengali families even offer fish delicacies to the deity. So, being in Kolkata definitely means a pause to your strict diet and a lot of over eating.

The Pandal

Pandal refer to temporary set up to venerate the life size Durga idols. Kolkata in all has 5000 such pandals constructed with artistic décor and lights during this celebration. Some of them are extremely popular especially in South Kolkata for the excellent themes and ideas that they put up every year. Walk around the city and you will find maps as banners guiding your way to the next best pandals.

Rituals

Revolving around Durga Puja, in these five days Kolkata puts up certain rituals that you might not find anywhere else. To start with will be ‘Kolabou snan’ where a banana plant is worshipped as the wife of Lord Ganesha. The climax of Durga Puja is ‘ShondhiPuja’ where within 24-minutes you will see the priest offering 108 lotuses, 108 earthern lamps along with a complete fruit. Another unusual experience you might have in certain pujas of the city is Kumari Puja where a young girl is worshipped as a manifestation of Devi Durga. The list is long yet until you get an idea of the whole of it in live, you indeed cannot imagine.

The city never sleeps

If your destination in case of night outs is parties and discs, then experience it in an absolute new way in Kolkata. During Durga Puja, citizens remain awake almost all night pandal hopping with friends and families. Families who bring in the deity spend nights to arrange and organize for the very next day. During dawn or dusk, you can take a power nap and get back to the pandals seeking blessings from the Goddess or for long ‘adda’ (chat) with near and dear ones. Remember, you got to deck up in a new set of clothes every time you step out of the house.

Fashion Fiesta

Men and women of all ages got to deck up for every minute of Durga Puja. While you may find one dazzling with saree and jewellery in the morning, she may go all western in the second half. Men too keep switching between their new collection of Indian and western wear. Certain families of Kolkata stick to the traditional fashion statement for these four days. They indeed raise the bar of culture in Kolkata pujo, every year.

Dhaak

Big drums in mystic rhythms are an integral part of Durga Puja. If you walk around the city at any point of the day during Durga Puja, you will feel the hum of it echoing in the air. Drumbeats play an important part when the Goddess is offered ‘arati’, a ritual especially in the evening. Localites also dance to this drum beats especially on the last day of the ceremony. With electronic music devices penetrating in, gradually Dhaak is gradually losing its dominance.

Dhunuchi Naach

This is a dance form practiced during Durga Puja with a special prop called ‘Dhunuchi’. Dhunuchi is an earthern, brass or silver flared pot that is lit with coconut husk, resin and coal. Professionals perform the dance with multiple Dhunuchi as props making it a spectacular sight to see. Dhaak and devotional songs are important during these performances.

Romance at the peak

Kolkata wraps up in a mood for romance during Durga Puja. Under the gaze of the Goddess, it’s a 5-day Valentine ’s Day where some fall in love at the first sight or some keep up the flame alike other years. Married or unmarried, you can easily spot these lovebirds in the gaping crowds as they hold hands, hug or share the same chicken roll and drink. And if you are single? Do not worry! The beautiful ladies and the handsome men will surely tempt your mood.

Sindoor Khela

On the tenth or last day of Durga Puja, right before immersing the idol in the nearby water body or the Ganges, here married women compulsorily participates in the ritual of ‘Sindoor Khela’. After offering vermillion to the goddess, they share the same along with love and laughter with their loved ones. Children and men also participate in this ending in bright processions to bid adieu to the Lord of power.

Bishorjon

The very last ritual of Durga Puja is where Devi Durga is immersed in the Ganges or any clean water body. Definitely this is the hour for heavy heart yet Bengalis overcome it by chanting prayers like ‘Ashche Bochor Abaar Hobe’ meaning the Goddess will surely come back next year.

This is not even a microscopic view to what the city has in store for you. You have a day in hand. Try to get the tickets to Kolkata.