Shubho Bijoya

Well..Pujo Pujo Pujo..and now it's over.Another 349 days to go for the next Pujo.Looking forward.
Aschhe bochhor abaar hobe
Bochhor bochhor abar hobe..

Shubho Bijoya

Nabami

Had been to North Calcutta today with Ma,Baba and Moima. Saw some of the pandals that I wait eagerly whole year round to see. These include Bagbazar, Shobhabazar Rajbari, Ahiritola, Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin.I visit these pandals every year. The pandal at Bagbazar is just an ordinary pandal,but the idol is breathtakingly beautiful.I am bowled over by the beauty everytime I see it. Like the one at Maddox Square, this idol at Bagbazar is also one that I cherish forever.I really do not know what but there's some magic in the idol that enthralls me evrytime. Each time I see the idol,I enjoy watching it more and more.

Similarly the idols at Shobhabazar Rajbari and Shobhabazar Rajbati are also wonderful.Visiting these places brings one closer to one's roots.After all this is the real Calcutta.North Calcutta
Kumartuli Park had made their pandal based on the theme "Kalchakra".The interiors of the pandal was done so brilliantly with sculptures of Rama, Krishna, Radha.However I did not like the idol. Thanks to the theme concept their idol did not evoke any awe or respect somehow.This is something that pulls me to Bagbazar, Maddox Square every year. They maintain the tradition. Some things are best kept unchanged and untouched.
Ahiritola had made an underwater show in their pandal interiors.The interior was a bit clumsy but may be in the evening the effect would be better. The pandal looked like a jetty with a few boats and the inside was as if under the sea. Lots of fish and corals were strewn around.Their idol was metallic in nature.
Telengabagan's pandal was one that I visited for the first time this year. I felt that it was a bit overhyped. I mean there are many not so famous,less hyped pandals of similar stature.However, Kankurgachi's Mitali Sangha's pandal was really magnificent.The decoration was done with thread. Many scenes from mythology was depicted in thread art.I could only gape at it in awe. It was beautiful.

This year I have done a lot of pandal hopping. Loved the "Pujo parikrama" this time. Nabami signifies almost the end of the Pujas. I am feeling a bit sad. However I am looking forward to next year's and am already counting days. When will October 1,2011 arrive?Oh when oh when?

Best Puja Gift

How would you feel if one fine day you get to hear that everything that you had planned for a whole year gets cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances?Well that is what happened to me. A few days before Shasthi I got the news that our annual ritual of going out for lunch with school friends was not to happen this year. I was so dismayed.
But when Kasturi called up the other day informing me of a new plan to go out on Ashtami, I was elated.

Nature did not play spoilsport at all. The weather was perfect. We ( Kasturi,Mouli,Sukanya and myself) enjoyed a lot. Sukanya and I had reached first and so did a bit of pandal hopping. Then we headed straight to Hatari where we got our seat pretty early. Thanks to Kasturi's brother booking a table for us :-)
After a lot of discussion we finally zeroed in on the menu. It was Tandoori chicken (everyone's FAVOURITE), Mixed chowmein,Chilli Lamb, Sweet n sour chicken and fresh lime soda.
As usual we were overfed and could hardly walk.We took a cab to Maddox square. This is one pandal that I try not to miss. There's nothing special about the pandal,but the idol is so mesmerising. After our adda session we came back home. Enjoyed the day a lot,don't know whether we'll be able to meet again or not next year or in the years to follow (although next year shasthi's on oct 1st which is a saturday). But today's day out will be treasured in my memory forever fondly..

And I give a lot of credit to Kasturi for organising it so well:-)Thanks Kasturi!

Saptami

Despite the feet ache not diminishing.despite the weather not being so fantastic(sometimes it was very very sunny and sometimes the scorching heat was unbearable) I went out Pandal hopping with Ma. We targetted the pandals of South Calcutta today. Starting with Mudiyali,to Shibmandir to S R Das Road (where we offered our Anjali) to Pratapaditya Road, Badamtala, 66 Pally,Bosepukur Sitalamandir to Bosepukur Talbagan to Singhi Park to Ekdalia Evergreen to Falguni Sangha to Jodhpur Park to Babubagan to Salimpur Pally...it was a tiring day.But at the end of it, I am extremely satisfied with today's venture. Some of the pandals that caught my fancy were  Singhi Park (Golden Temple), Bosepukur Talbagan( made out of plastic bottles and plastic "jhuris") and Jodhpur Park (toy house).Babubagan's pandal was also good but I found the darkness in the pandal very conducive to accidents especially in the rush hours.Badamtala had painted the nearby houses in the likes of their pandal and the entire appearance was very colorful.66 Pally had used umbrellas (very apt I must say!Scorching heat and depression!)

Overall,it was a good day..

 For a complete preview of my album please copy and paste the following link in your browser :

http://picasaweb.google.com/suchetana.gupta/Saptami?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-TxKzZrv6UVA&feat=directlink

Experince: My first whole night trip on a Puja night

Yesterday was Mahapanchami.The first (officially Debi Durga's Bodhon takes place on a shashthi evening though!) day of the carnival called Durga Puja.Thousands (may be even lakhs!I am not sure) of people come out dressed in their new garments,trying to soak up every bit of the fun and frolic of the festive season.Every year I read about how so many people go pandal hopping the entire night,many friends and relatives also go.So this year I decided even I had to go. I could not miss out.Hoping to find the "superstars", "megastars" to be less crowded,we (Ma,Baba,Monai and me) ventired out at a little past 11:30pm.Our first destination was Sreebhumi Sporting Club. The lighting was amazing. Anything from toytrain to Paul the octopus(with Waka Waka playing at the background) to Kargil war was depicted in the lights.The pandal was towering.Although I couldn't quite make out what was it thay they actually wanted to depict.The chandelier was awesome. The idol was normal,nothing extraordinary.
Next we saw two amazing pandals at DumDum Park Tarun Sangha and Dumdum Park Bharat Chakra. The former had made the pandal with 700kg of towels.The overall ensemble was beautiful.Bharat Chakra had made a moving pandal.Every decoration was moving. The pandal was designed as a chariot because it also symbolised movement. Then we saw a few more Pujas and came to College Square. They make the same idol every year, the same chandelier. This time the interior was designed on the lines of the Louvre Museum, France.The reflection of the pandal on the waters of College Square is a must watch. I was totally bowled over.By this time it was already 4am. We started on our return journey. There was a huge traffic jam on College Street. nonetheless fighting the jam we reached home by 4:30.Tired we were,but I was highly satisfied with this unique experience.It was beautiful sight to watch the pandlas and the entire city decked up to welcome the Goddess.
Shubho Shasthi!

Here's a link to all the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/suchetana.gupta/Panchami2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCP2fr-2wyoyAZA&feat=directlink

( Please copy and paste it on your browser  )