Just About Everything

Durga idol  A completely different concept for Durga puja pandal. The theme of this pandal in South Kolkata is a library and the idea is to promote reading. Quite an interesting concept indeed! I wonder what will they come up with next? My next post has some more interesting concepts from Durga puja 2013. Entrance to the pandal A small little hut in keeping with the theme Entrance to the pandal Durga puja pandal with books and guitar Nicely done A book rack in the pandal Durga puja mantra A popular Bengali poem

Durga Idol at the Girish Mukherjee residence Durga puja at the Girish Mukherjee house in Bahawnipur, Kolkata is over 100 years old. This beautiful old house and the people have upheld the tradition of celebrating Durga puja in the same traditional way over the years. All members of the family get together for Durga puja, the sense of togetherness and the spirit of festivity in this household is infectious! And not to miss the dhakis who complete the whole picture by drumming in the beats of happiness. Durga painting Beautiful old house- Girish Mukherjee bari Bhawanipur, Kolkata Entrance of the house The family gets together for the evening Durga arati on Nabami Durga Arati on Nabami Dhakis with their colourful drums

Goddess Durga Today is the Maha Ashtami day of Durga puja, among other pujas on Ashtami, Sandhi puja happens to be quite a significant puja in Ashtami. Devi Durga is worshiped with 108 diyas, 108 lotus flowers and garlands made of hibiscus and leaves. I managed to capture a part of the Sandhi puja today. Sandhi puja is supposed to be very significant because it is believed that Durga killed Chando and Mundo the two asuras at this time, and Durga is worshiped in her Chamunda form during Sandhi puja. Most of the times, Sandhi puja happens around midnight or even later at night. It quite an experience to listen to mantras and the dhaks (drums) during that time of  the night when there is silence all around. Quite a spiritual experience actually! This time though it was at 3.45pm in the afternoon. Leaving you with this video, though this video is not very good, the sound of the drums and ambiance really makes it quite an experience. Happy pujas.

Durga idol Santoshpur Lake Pally Today is shasti, and Kolkata is so completely festive. The excitement begins from today! Officially Durga Puja for 2013 begins today but people have been pandal hopping since chaturthi! So far I have seen just a few Durga puja pandals. I am sharing the pictures of two of my favourite Durga puja pandals so far. The following set of pictures are from a Durga puja in Patuli in South Kolkata. It is called the Patuli club puja. The pandal is in the shape of a cage and there are birds in  the cage. Each idol is holding a dove, most likely to depict peace. Patuli club durga puja 2013 Birds in the pandal A beautiful peacock Paintings on the pandal Durga idol Patuli club 2013 Decorations in the pandal The below-mentioned pandal is again from South Kolkata, it is called the Santoshpur Lake Pally Durga puja. The pandal is in the shape of a flower and it looks so beautiful and real. The stigma of th...

Along with the festive season comes the yummy sweet and salty stuff that just can't be resisted, I have stopped bothering about gaining weight, I will think about it next year! Taler Bora Here are some more of my favourite home-made sweets and snacks for the festive season. You can also check out my earlier post on some of the lesser known Bengali home made sweets . Taler bora : This Bengali sweet is made during Janmashtami. That is the time you can get a lot of ripe palm fruits in the market. It is actually easy to make. The tough and the messy part is squeezing out the juice from the plam fruit. Once that is done, it is pretty simple. Just mix refined flour, semolina, rice flour, grated cocunut and sugar to the juice. Some people like to add mashed bananas to the mix, but that really depends on you, if you want the banana flavour you can add it to the mix. The mix prepared needs to be on the thicker side because small portions need to be deep fried. The result is abs...

On my way back from work, I noticed the moon shining nice and bright, in fact it was a full moon day that day, so the moon looked even more beautiful. The sky was overcast so the moon's brightness was even more precious and lent the sky a lovely glow. Then within a few seconds some dark ominous looking clouds came in and covered the moon completely. I felt a bit annoyed at the intrusion. There I was enjoying the sight of the beautiful full moon only to be interrupted by the clouds!  After a few seconds, I saw the moon again, shining as brightly as ever, the clouds had passed. The moon looked just the same, almost as if nothing had happened. Well, scientifically nothing had, but it got me thinking. In our everyday life, so often we get into situations that are not of our making; these situations suck us into them and we get very affected by them. Overtime these issues and problems stress us out completely. So much so, that even after the problem gets resolved or ...

A workshop with so many idols! Kumartuli is the place to be if you are interested in sculpting. The work of these talented artists is indeed mesmerizing. Kumartuli (Kumortuli) is home to talented sculptors who sculpt the idols of Gods and Goddesses. Kumartuli is well-known for the Durga idols that the artists create in there. You will find the place abuzz with activities all through the year, but it reaches its peak during Durga pujas. Durga idols start getting sculpted almost five to six months before Durga Puja. Not only do the artists create idols for West Bengal and other states, the idols are also sent abroad. Kumartuli is located near Shobhabazar in North Kolkata, West Bengal. I am sharing some pictures of the beautiful sculptures that these talented artists create.                                         An artist at work at Kumartuli Durga Idol Durg...