Enjoying Durga Puja In The Suburbs of Bengal

If you want to be part of the  festivities and rituals of Durga Puja  without experiencing the maddening crowd, this blog is for you.

Durga Puja is considered as one of the most anticipated Hindu festival. It is celebrated for five days, usually in the month of September-October every year.

Places like Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tripura celebrate Durga Puja.

I am not the kind to visit Pandals during Durga Puja though it is huge craze for many in this state. I enjoy the quiet family time at home, doing my own thing. We can hear the sound of Dhaak and devotional songs from our home itself.

In Durga Puja Maha Ashtami is considered as the most important day of the festival. On that day people offer Pushpanjali (Flower offerings) in Durga Puja pandals. This Puja basically has a simple narrative. It is believed that during this time Goddess Durga comes to her father’s house for five days. Isn't that Cool? Very human - nothing divine.

This year Durga Puja was from 4th October till 8th October. Since my birthday was just one month prior to the Puja therefore I received quite a few T-shirts which I kept intact to wear during this festival. I even received cash (around Rs 2500) which I deposited in the bank. As I do not usually go outside my expenses are minimum and needs are very few. 

As usual I was just not interested to visit the pandals due to crowd that really scares me and makes me anxious but suddenly visiting a few pandals near my residence, clicking some of these pictures and writing first draft of a travel blog became a paid assignment.

Therefore, reluctantly I chose to wear one of the new dresses and set out to visit the pandals nearby. My mother wore a green soft Jamdaani (A collection sourced from Bengal Weavers and I am mighty proud of it as I have invested in that range).

We decided to visit a few pandals on 7th of October, more out of compulsion like any other routine job. It was the ninth day of Durga Puja. We boarded a Toto and visited the pandals in our locality - Barrackpore in North Kolkata.

Why do I need to write a blog about Durga Puja in Barrackpore when there are mind blowing, award winning themes and pandals in different parts of Kolkata? Why Barrackpore – I wondered? Moreover, why should this be a paid assignment?

It made perfect sense when I was explained that there are many tourists who want to visit Bengal during Durga Puja however they are mentally not equipped to handle the crowd and they are sort of clueless of the queue system – They mostly want to explore both – the ritual and the city, without the crowd.

Barrackpore is indeed a perfect place for that where people can enjoy Pandal hopping without facing too much crowd as compared to other parts of Kolkata.

One can quickly take a bus or auto ride and cover Sodepur, Agarpara, Ichapur, Palta to cover a few more theme based pandals.

We first went to see the Puja which took place in our own locality popularly called Durga Bari – It was a school building a few decades back, now it is rented out for weddings, birthday parties and spiritual gatherings. During Durga Puja, this place thrives with people. It has a huge land space in front of the building and a nice pond close to it. Where you can hear chants for Puja now, you get to hear Karate students screaming their mantras at other times.

My mother also watched Sandhi Puja here on one of these days. It has a special importance during Durga Puja. It is done at the time when Ashtami tithi ends and Navami tithi starts. The reason for Sandhi Puja is that it is believed that Goddess appeared during this time to kill demons. (I am not sure though, I have not met her personally ;)

The last day of Durga Puja is celebrated as Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra. It also marks the victory of good over evil powers. On this day the women of all the families visit their nearest pandals and offer sweets to Goddess Durga and also to her children asking her to come again next year (Abar Esho Maa).

People do get emotional on this day and even begin to view the goddess's face, as if in teary mode - actually it is a reflection of their own state of mind. Many quickly console themselves, as just a week from that day is Lakshmi Puja, a month later is Kali Puja and then Saraswati Puja - And ask 99% people from Bengal, by the time Saraswati Puja is celebrated, we are already counting months for the next Durga Puja and planning.

If you are a first time visitor to Bengal, you should quietly sit in a pandal and watch these rituals because Pandal hopping is not the only must-do thing here. If you are fortunate, you will see the Dhaaki (The ones who beat the Dhaak) dance during Aarti

The next pandal that we visited was Royal Park near Kalyani Highway where we took a few pictures and selfies with my mother. Royal Park is famous for investing a lot of efforts and execute innovative ideas in their pandals. We started walking from Royal Park towards our home. While walking back we witnessed the crowd growing. We quickly covered seeing a few more pandals, took pictures and had Prasad.

There were all different and unique designs in each and every pandals that we visited. There were pandals made of glass bangles, gunny bags, with a huge Buddha structure in front and many more inside the pandal. Here is one made of pieces of bricks near Agarpara

Theme - Bricks and Earth ware. Picture Credit: Admin

Finally, there was also one pandal with the concept of a bridge on river Thames. We saw this during the day and therefore missed the lighting. Others who saw this Pandal told me there were statues that moved which means they were all real people posing as residents of London, waving at the visitors.

While returning we had a little snack from a fast food shop near our house.

Now that is our weakness – Food!

During Durga Puja people not only wear new dresses (The privileged lot practically buy dresses  - day and night - for all six days – Panchami to Dashami) and go outside to watch the innovative decoration of the pandals (including whole night Pandal hopping) but also eat delicious food street, home-made, takeaway parcel, hotels – anything goes.

Now, as a family, that is our primary interest zone - Food. We are a family of foodies and love trying different cuisine. We had Mutton Biryani on Panchami itself followed by Fried Rice and Chilly Chicken on Mahashtami. One of the days being a Saturday, we had to consume vegetarian food – a family routine. 

Food Credit: The Lady of the House; Image Credit: Admin

Many people wonder that during an auspicious Puja why people in Bengal eat non-veg food etc. The reason behind this is simple - for us Maa Durga is a daughter who is coming home for a few days to visit her parents. What do we usually do when a daughter comes home – in normal circumstances? Offer fruits? No right?

That is precisely why for people in Bengal, Durga Puja is not just a Puja or a Rs 25000/- economy, its preparation practically runs for the whole year – It is a family affair, people working outside Bengal sacrifice other trips and save holidays to come home during Durga Puja, planning every minute of each of these days, tightly packed with Pandal Hopping, dining out, preparing for cultural programs – It is one big family thing celebrating life having different

meaning to different people.

My visit to the pandals during Durga Puja was very short – just for a day and yet pretty exciting and joyful to write this blog.

When I was given this assignment to visit pandals and write a blog I also wondered why was the assignment being given to “me” in particular?

For someone like me, in mid-twenties, the standard expectation is Pandal  hopping, street food, and standing in Queues for hours with “friends” or “cousins” – not immediate family. I am the odd one. I have always visited Pandals with parents only because for me Durga Puja means “Family time” just the way the daughter visits her home every year.

That’s the perspective I wanted to capture in my blog – that’s the narrative I want this blog to carry that - my folks at home are my great friends- while the whole world is connected on WA and FB, I am connected to my best friends in person.

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