Few Things You Must Experience When Travel To Kolkata During The Durga Pooja

FEW THINGS YOU MUST DO WHEN YOU TRAVEL 

TO KOLKATA DURING THE DURGA POOJA

There's no place better than Kolkata if you want to experience the real charm of Durga Puja. We would all agree to that. It is the same reason why a lot of travellers come to Kolkata just to experience this Bengali festival. While you are there in the city during the Durga Puja, here are a few things you must experience.

Pandal hopping

That goes without saying, right? If you are in Kolkata during the Durga Puja and you don’t do pandal hopping, your entire trip is a waste of time. But prepared to walk a lot and to face a lot of crowd. Trust us it is worth going through all that. Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata are known to display some of the most vivid forms of art. Each pandal is tastefully decorated there’s a full fledged competition between the Durga Puja committees to win the coveted award of being the best in the city. Right from using waste materials to steel, a lot of creativity and hard work goes into the making of a pandal. And what you get to see as a result is a theme-based pandal and a durga idol to match the same. Once you start exploring these beauties, time will fly and your camera memory will be full before you know it.

Not-to-miss pandals:
Jodhpur Park
Bosepukur
Kumartuli
Badamtala Ashar Sangha

Eat!

Bengalis are known to be one of the biggest foodie communities in the country. Bongs need an excuse to eat. The reason why you will get plenty of opportunities to sample some of the best flavours you can imagine. Right from the street food, including the fuchkas (golgappas), and the egg and chicken rolls, to the mishtis (sweets like roshogolla and authentic mishti doi) to the full fledged Bengali cuisine restaurants serving the all-time favourites like maachher jhol, and luchi-kosha maangsho, Durga Puja is the best time to be explore the entire Bengali cuisine. 

Not-to-miss eateries:
Bhojohori Manna
6 Ballygunj Place
Ice Berg roll joint at Golpark

Participate in Dhunuchi Naach

Dress yourself in the traditional Bengali attire--dhoti-kurta for men and white saree with red border for women, and participate in this frenzied yet graceful dance that takes place only during the Durga puja. When the evening aarti is done on Ashtami, earthen pots called Dhunuchis are filled with coconut shells and lit up to serve as incense burners. These are used by devotees dressed in the traditional Bengali attire to do the Dhunuchi Naachi, a form of dance that is done to the beats of that dhaks (drums). The dance acts as a form of worship to Goddess Durga while the aarti is being done by the priest. Although it's a lot of fun in doing this, devotees often get into a frenzy while expecting their faith towards the worship in the form of a dance.

Visit the Bonedi Baaris

Durga Puja celebrations held in the Bonedi Baaris of Kolkata is something that you just can't afford to miss. Bonedi Baari refers to the heritage Bengali houses that are there in the city. These houses are ancient and are known to have housed some of the biggest families of Bengal. If you want to see Durga Puja in its most authentic form, you must visit these houses. The puja done here is based on centuries of tradition and is closely attached to the roots of Bengali culture. Entire family trees become one in these houses every year during the Durga Puja celebrations. Right from the attire to the rituals, Durga Puja is done in its truest form in the Bonedi Baaris.

Not-to-miss Bonedi Baaris:
Shovabazar Raj Bari
Chatubabu Latubabu Baari

Participate in the Bhashaan rituals

Bhashaaan is the Bengali world for Visarjan or immersion ceremony. Done on the day of Dashami or Dussehra, this ceremony is held in order to mark the end of the Durga Puja festivities. Married women dressed in traditional Bengali sarees follow a ritual called shindoor khela, a ceremony very similar to Holi, wherein vermillion is used instead of colours. When the Durga idol is taken to the bank of river Ganga for immersion, it turns into an altogether different kind of celebration. Right from the time the idol is lifted from the pandal to the time it is immersed at the riverbank, people tirelessly dance to the beats of the drums. The kind of enthusiasm that goes into the dancing clearly shows that everyone wants to make the most of the last few moments of Durga Puja, which happens to be the celebration for Bengalis. Take time out to join the procession and dance all your worries away--there can't be a better to celebrate life.