Worship of the Almighty as Divine Mother is an age-old tradition in India and a refined part of Indian culture. It has been in existence since prehistoric times, but geographically it is limited to Asian countries in general and India in particular, in the current century. The history of ancient civilizations of Indus, Greece, Rome, Babylon and Egypt bears evidences to the worship of Divine Mother in different forms – nature, art, learning, culture and enlightenment. But Mother Worship has evolved from a tradition into a living religion for Indians. In Bengal, it has reached the highest level of devotion and faith in feminine manifestation of the Divine.   

Kumari Puja at Belur Math in West Bengal, India

In Bengal, Durga Puja or worship of Goddess Durga, an incarnation of Shakti, is the most pious and popular form of Mother Worship. In the Bengali community, the elderly people address young girls as Ma out of affection. “To look upon God as Mother is the purest and the highest form of Sadhana,” said Sri Ramakrishna, who is believed to have worshiped his wife as Divine Mother. Mother is all-in-all for a child.

Kumari Puja, a special attraction of Durga Puja festival in Bengal, is held to celebrate this faith through ceremonious worship of young girls in sense of Divine Mother. Kumari Puja is called Kanya Pujan in North India. Bengal celebrates it on Maha Ashtami, the eighth day of Durga Puja, while it is held on the ninth day or the last day of Navaratri in other states of India. The place to be for Kumari Puja in Bengal is Belur Math, the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission ashrams across the globe.

Kumari Puja is held wherever Ramakrishna Math & Mission is in the world. But, it is a cultural refinement, grand ceremony and spectacular ritual at Belur Math on the Hooghly River flowing between Howrah and Kolkata. Swami Vivekananda, the founder of Belur Math, had initiated Kumari Puja in appreciation of Sri Ramakrishna’s devotion to Divine Mother and faith in Mother Worship.

The saffron-clad monks of the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math look upon a young girl as mother and worship her as a goddess, on Maha Ashtami. According to Sri Ramakrishna, little girls at the tender age when they are away from negative forces of the materialistic world are manifestations of the Divine Mother. A little girl at the pre-puberty phase of her growth is bathed in the holy Ganga water, dressed in a crimson red or fiery yellow sari with golden border, and adorned with jewelry.

Also Check: What Makes Durga Puja Grand Celebration for Global Bengalis

The same rituals are performed to worship the Kumari (young unmarried girl) and the same offerings are made to her as those during the worship of Goddess Durga. She is purified and sanctified through chanting of holy mantras. A spectacular arati is performed. Monks and devotees offer flowers at her obedience. The devoted hearts invoke her blessings through prayers. Kumari Puja at Belur Math fetches in a huge gathering of devotees, every year. Even, the whole ceremony is live telecast all over West Bengal.

To say in other words, Kumari Puja at Belur Math is a sacred celebration of the celestial bonding between the Divine and the human. Needless to say, the Kumari Puja ceremony is worth booking last-minute flights to Kolkata during the Durga Puja festival.

About Travel Beats

Travel Beats is an Indian Diaspora news portal by Indian Eagle, a leading travel organization for overseas Indians having a proven record of booking last minute flights to India. We at Travel Beats connect Indians abroad, including Indian Americans with their cultural heritage roots through our stories and features. 

Interesting Stories of Kolkata

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• Kolkata as Black & White Calcutta in the 1960s
• Kolkata Street Food Guide for First-time Visitors
• Eventful Journey of Kolkata Tram from 1867

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Durga Puja, the grandest and most spectacular festival of India, is in full swing now.  This festivity is so divine, joyous and fabulous that it never ceases to keep us waiting eagerly for the arrival of the Goddess. Every year, we cover the Durga Puja celebration on Travel Beats in different ways. We have come up with an article on the age-old rituals of Durga Puja to keep some requests from the Indian community in USA so that they can share it with their American friends.     

Dhaak

With the image of dhaak, the face of Goddess Durga surfaces to the mind. A most identifiable icon of the Durga Puja festivity, dhaaks are beaten during the worship of the Goddess, dhunuchi naach, aarti in the mornings and evenings from the beginning to the end of the festival. The beating of dhaak defines the ambience, dominates the mood and fills the air on the festive days.

Dhunuchi Naach

Dhunuchi Naach is an attraction of the Durga Puja celebration on festive evenings. In the Bengali community, boys, girls, men and women perform this traditional dance holding earthen lamps full of burning coconut shell with both hands and facing the Goddess. The rhythmic moves of their dancing feet are accompanied by the beats of dhaaks. The excitement soars and crowd cheers with the fast beating of dhaaks during the performance. It is a most entertaining and crowd-pulling part of the Durga Puja event in Kolkata, the rest of Bengal and other states of India. Women wear dhakai, taant and jamdani saris with golden work in the typical Bengali dressing style, and men wear embroidered kurtas of different colors in combination with white dhotis for this occasion.

READ ALSO Folk Culture of Bengal

Pushpanjali

Source: Flickr.com

A ritualistic part of the Durga Puja celebration, Pushpanjali refers to the offering of flowers with devotion to the holy feet of the Goddess. Each day of the festival starts with this ritual in the morning when Bengalis wearing new traditional clothes utter holy mantras and offer the Pushpanjali. However, the Pushpanjali on Maha Ashtami has lots of significance. Almost everyone fasts till this ritual is performed. Once it is over, the devotees are given prasad.

Kumari Puja

Kumari Puja on Maha Ashtami, the 8th day of the festival, is one of the traditional ceremonies interwoven with the way Durga Puja is celebrated in Bengal. A five or six year old girl child is worshipped as a human incarnation of the Goddess. Worshipping of the girl child or kumari with lamps, incense sticks, flowers and other holy essentials is worth watching every year. She is offered sweets too. The people present on the puja spot offer their devotion to the tender feet of the child and receive her blessings. However, the Kumari Puja initiated by Swami Vivekananda at Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, is a grand spectacle.

READ ALSO Significance of Kumari Puja at Belur Math

Sandhi Puja

The most spectacular part of Durga Puja celebration, Sandhi Puja is performed at the moment when Maha Ashtami ends and Maha Navami begins. This ritualistic ceremony holds special significance because it is believed that the Goddess kills the buffalo demon at this time. Sandhi Puja marks triumph of the good and defeat of the evil. Worshipping of the Goddess in this part of the festivity requires a grand arrangement that entails 108 lotus flowers, 108 lamps, platefuls of sweets, a large pot full of rice grains, clothes, hibiscus garlands, wood apple leaves, vermillion, etc. The Sandhi Puja aarti is the most wonderful spectacle to behold with devotion.

Sindur Khela

The color of vermillion eclipses the glow of other colors on Dashami, the 10th day of Durga Puja, when married women of the Bengali community indulge in sindur khela. It is an age-old customary ritual for them to exchange good wishes and festive greetings by smearing each other’s face with vermillion. The married Bengali women of all age-groups including the newly wed and the old, deck themselves in white saris with deep red border, and gold ornaments for this occasion as you might have seen in the climax of Bollywood movie Kahani starring Vidya Balan. They offer flowers with vermilion to the obedience of Maa Durga before bidding adieu to the Goddess.

Immersion

Immersion of the idols of the Goddess and her family members – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik – is the culminating ceremony of the Durga Puja festival that leaves Bengalis with tears in the eyes. Bengalis across the country tearfully bid adieu to the Divine Mother on Maha Dashami, the 10th or last day of the festival. The immersion is preceded by spectacular processions in which traditionally dressed men and women dance in rhythm with the beats of dhaak, all the way to the river bank. Hundreds of devotees join the procession and catch the last glimpse of the Goddess during immersion.

Travel Beats is an Indian Diaspora portal by Indian Eagle, a leading travel organization for overseas Indians having a proven record of booking cheapest air tickets to India. We at Travel Beats connect Indians abroad, including Indian Americans with their cultural heritage roots through our stories and features.   

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Kolkata will become a world-class city once India’s first underwater metro train starts plying under the River Hooghly. The two tunnels of the upcoming metro train under the Hooghly River connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah are part of the INR 9000-crore East West Metro project, including a 10.8km underground route and a 5.8km elevated corridor. The construction of Kolkata’s underwater metro train tunnels started recently and will be finished by the end of July 2017.

The underwater metro train in Kolkata is one of the country’s travel wonders, including the fastest Delhi-Agra Gatimaan Express, the Delhi-Lucknow Double Decker, the Delhi-Assam wildlife adventure train, the Delhi-Varanasi Bullet corridor, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train, Delhi IGI Airport’s air train, and India’s first Vistadome coach train.

Kolkata’s underwater metro train will be running 13 meters below the riverbed of the Ganges and 30 meters below the surface of the earth. About 520 meters long, the two parallel tunnels will be located on either side of the Hooghly River between Kolkata and Howrah. The 16.6-km long East West Metro route will have 12 stations: six in the elevated corridor and six in the underground corridor.

About 250 people have been employed for digging the under-river metro train tunnels. The construction is in full swing 24 hours a day. The tunnels will be sealed with a thick concrete layer to avert disasters like collapsing of earth, soil erosion, and water seepage, which are major concerns about the underwater metro train in Kolkata.

Possible damage to three heritage buildings located in close proximity to the East West Metro route is another gnawing concern with the tunneling of the underwater metro train in Kolkata. These heritage buildings among the protected monuments of Kolkata, include the Currency Building, an Italian structure dating back to the 1830s during Lord William Bentinck was the Governor General of British India. The Currency Building was home to the Reserve Bank of India in the then Calcutta until 1937.

The other two heritage sites on the verge of damage are Beth-El and Maghen David Jewish synagogues. In addition, the Howrah District Library already got some cracks which resulted from the digging of Kolkata’s underwater metro train tunnels by a mammoth Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Limited is trying hard to address or mitigate these concerns which are in fact difficult to deal with in a densely populated metropolis like Kolkata.

One of the tunnels for the underwater metro train in Kolkata will be built by May end or in the first week of June 2017. The construction of the other tunnel will be over by July end this year. Once one tunnel is built, the other will be dug. Two tunnel boring machines can’t work at the same time given the nature of the soil under the riverbed of the Ganges.

The upcoming underwater metro train in Kolkata is one of the things the City of Joy has in common with London. A replica of London’s Big Ben has already become a landmark in Kolkata.

Travel Beats is a leading overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle Travel, a leading international air travel booking organization making confirmed reservation on cheapest flights to Kolkata. Travel Beats publishes the latest travel, tourism, visa, immigration and Indian community news.

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In some of our stories of Kolkata, we are eloquent about the street food culture, traditional Bengali cuisine and Durga puja festival of the city. There are many things to talk and write about beyond the cultural aspects of the 21st century Kolkata as the city has experienced highs and lows since its foundation in the year 1690. One of the major transformations that the capital of Bengal has undergone is that of its identity from Calcutta to Kolkata.

The post-independence picture of Calcutta may be a mystery and a matter of curiosity, at the same time, to many of the present generation. Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal, has woven a brief story of Calcutta in the 1960s.

The nightlife culture of Calcutta in the 1960s was an integral part of the sophisticated lifestyle of the elite and the rich. Park Street was the most happening place to spend out nights partying till wee hours. Cultured men and women from the upper reaches of society used to sweep down Park Street in their swanky cars and dance to the music of live bands at Blue Fox, Mocambo, Moulin Rouge and other restaurants of those times. Guests on a visit to Calcutta from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Manila were treated to the musical beats, fairy lights, and winey flavors of Park Street in the dead of night, in the 1960s.

Calcutta in the 1960s was a city of political upheavals, mass agitation, labor strikes and student unions’ protests. The turbulent being of the city served as the base of the Left’s rise in West Bengal. Deindustrialization of the state began to take place in the 1960s leaving the next generations high and dry. The Naxalite movement, led by the fuming youth of Calcutta in the 1960s, triggered the political agitation. A massive flow of starved, penniless refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the onset of the Liberation War of 1971 added to Calcutta’s socio-political stagnation.

In the 1960s, Calcutta was a city of middle-class intellectuals. The professionals including doctors, professors, lawyers, filmmakers, engineers, managers and artists belonged to this class of the then Bengali society. The British had created this intellectual class to support and expand their trade when Calcutta was the capital of India. The 21st century Kolkata takes pride in the achievements of the middle-class intellectuals, including legendary filmmakers, actors and writers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Uttam Kumar, Utpal Dutta, Suchitra Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Bikas Roy and others.

The Hooghly riverfront of Calcutta was a thriving industrial belt till the mid of the 1960s. Howrah was the throbbing center of industrialization in the northeast before and after independence. Calcutta was the second best port city, next to Singapore, in Asia. The then industrial recognition of Calcutta as one of the global leaders was based on the production and export of jute and tea. The Ranigang-Asansol-Durgapur belt with coal mines and manufacturing plants was known as the Ruhr of India.

The public transport lifeline of Calcutta in the 1960s consisted of hand-pulled rickshaws, double-decker buses, and trams. The present Kolkata has not parted with handcarts and trams yet, though double-decker buses are no more seen plying the busy streets.

The picture of Calcutta in the 1960s is too big to be framed in an article of a few hundred words. Why not travel to India to explore the difference between Calcutta of the 1960s and the 21^st century Kolkata? Indian Eagle books the cheapest flights to Kolkata International Airport throughout the year. 

Disclaimer: The tidbits of information for this story of Calcutta in the 1960s are collected from different sources on the web. We do not guarantee the authenticity of the information.     

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Among the festivals of India, Holi is the only festival which celebrates love and harmony, friendship and brotherhood with various colors. The celebration of Holi is a common thread of unity in the socio-cultural diversity of India. The festival of colors is celebrated in different ways but with equal enthusiasm across the country, which will leave you surprised. Somewhere it is traditional, while somewhere it is trendy. Somewhere it is a color chaos, while somewhere it is a colorful extravaganza. Somewhere Holi is a genuine celebration of age-old folk cultures, whereas somewhere it is a sinful frenzy of urbanites. You can soak in flamboyance of colors, no matter which part of India you visit this time.

We at Indian Eagle handpicked five places from across India and explored what makes them the best destinations for fun-filled, spectacular Holi celebrations.

Shantiniketan

Holi is a cultural festival celebrated with an aura of sophistication in Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan, an international seat of learning and literature in Bengal. Though Holi is known as Dol Yatra all over the state, the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore introduced it as Vasanta Utsav attributing a cultural dimension to it. Dressed in shades of yellow, orange and green, boys and girls choreograph the celebration in rhythmic fashions – singing and dancing. In Shantiniketan, the atmosphere of the day is a miasma of colorfulness and literary fervor as the students of Vishva Bharati University celebrate the festival through the poems and songs, composed by the Bard of Bengal himself.

Shantiniketan, which is also famous for its age-old Pous Mela, is a nearly 4-hour train journey or road trip from Kolkata. Know how to save big on flights to Kolkata, India.  

Delhi

In Delhi, the cosmopolitan ways of Holi celebration are unique to the capital’s multicultural milieu. Holi celebration is not less musical and crazy than a DJ party with foot-tapping numbers from Bollywood movies. The Delhites who are Page 3 celebrities throw parties in resorts and farm houses. The temperature of the atmosphere soars so high that they cool off themselves with sips of bhang lassi and thandai. Delhi is also famous for the Holi Cow Festival, an organized event of music and madness. Do watch the video of the song, “Balam pitchkari jo tune mujhe mari” from the music album of the movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani to get a hang of how madly Delhites celebrate the festival of colors.

Delhi has global air connectivity. Especially, Air India operates several nonstop flights to Delhi IGI Airport from USA, UK and other parts of the world.  

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad is the best place to celebrate this spring festival in Gujarat. Be the festival Holi or Navratri, Gujarati celebrates it traditionally. Holi is a cultural extravaganza in the capital of Gujarat. The celebration begins with the breaking of earthen pots of buttermilk hung from a rope in the streets after the joyous procession of menfolk through lanes and alleys comes to an end. This ceremony is observed in honor of Lord Krishna who used to steal the pots of butter and buttermilk from Gopis’ houses. In some parts of the city, Gujarati belles wearing ghagra with mirror work and the men wearing colorful turbans play dandiya to spread euphoria all around. Haryana celebrates Holi in the same fashion.

Ahmedabad, India’s first UNESCO World heritage city is well-connected with the rest of India. Cheap airfare deals for flights to Ahmedabad from USA will leave you amazed. 

Mathura & Vrindavan

Mathura and Vrindavan are the best places to celebrate Holi in North India. These two destinations for pilgrims and tourists are mythically associated with the legends of Krishnaleela or Rasleela. It is said that the zest the Brajwasis (people of Vrindavan) play Holi with is not felt in the rest of India during the festival. Their festive spirit is so high that the celebration begins 40 days prior to the day of Holi. Boys are dressed like Krishna, and girls dress themselves like Gopis (female admirers of Krishna). The Lathmar Holi of Barsana, the village of Sri Radha, is the main attraction. The boys of Vrindavan play colors with the girls of Barsana in a flirtatious manner. They drench each other with colored water and sprinkle gulal in the air.

You can reach Mathura and Vrindavan by road from New Delhi Airport in nearly 3 hours. Check the interesting facts of the world’s tallest temple, Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir which is currently under construction in Mathura for a whopping cost of INR 700 crores (USD 102 million).  

Manipur

The way Manipur celebrates the Holi Festival is culturally unique, Northeast India. The festivity begins on the Full Moon day of Phalguna and spans for six days. The age-old Yaosang Festival of the state was merged with Holi celebration during the rise of Vaishnavism. The tradition of celebrating Holi through cultural performances including folk dance forms and songs has been replaced with the trend – music band culture. Setting fire to a thatched hut of hay and twigs marks the beginning of the festivity. The boys and girls play gulal, the following day. The sight of devotees wearing white & yellow turbans, dancing in front of the Krishna temple and offering gulal to the obedience of the Lord is a wonderful spectacle to witness. The celebration ends with a religious procession to the capital city, Imphal.

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Take a break from the urban lifestyle and cosmopolitan ambience of Kolkata this month. Ride an express train or drive a car to Shantiniketan, a national seat of learning, an international center of fine arts, and a land of folk culture in Bengal. Shantiniketan is famous for Rabindranath Tagore, Visva-Bharati University, and Poush Mela. The inception of Poush Mela dates back to the 1894 in connection with the anniversary of the Brahma Mandir founded by Maharishi Devendranath Tagore in 1891 in Shantiniketan.

Shantiniketan’s Poush Mela is one of the popular cultural fairs in Bengal. This fair provides a window to the rural heritage and folk culture of Bengal. What had started as a small rural fair is a great hit with tourists in winter, today. Held for three days in the last week of December, Poush Mela of Shantiniketan holds a mirror to the life and culture of rural Bengal. Travel Beats, a portal for Indian communities abroad shares gripping glimpses of Poush Mela to introduce you to the Bengali cultural heritage in Shantiniketan.

Catch up with Baul Singers

Poush Mela is a celebration of Bengal’s rural life and folk culture which remain an incomplete picture without mention of Baul Sangeet or Baul Gaan, a Bengali folk music. Bengal is home to the community of traditional Baul singers who are identified with their unique musical instrument Ektara. Poush Mela is a famous stage for their performance. They sing about the common aspects of day-to-day life. The atmosphere they create by playing the Ektara feels spiritual.

Marvel at Live Graffiti

No need to explore the lanes and alleys of Shantiniketan in search of graffiti. You will find graffiti as a live art on the faces of small children around you on the fairground. Their painted face and motley guise add to the colorfulness of the fair. The local children disguise themselves as priests, princes and gods to entertain the visitors in Shantiniketan’s Poush Mela.

Legends of Madhubani Painting

Learn about Local Culture

Poush Mela is a great time for the people of Shantiniketan and the neighboring villages. The locals including men and women actively participate in different rural games, which make the air of the fairground feel vibrant. Their exuberance and joy that the fair fills their day-to-day life with are sure to make you feel happy. You can learn a lot about their simple lifestyle and rural culture.

Music & Dance Festivals of India

Shop for Handicraft Items

Bengal has its own heritage of rural handicraft. The handicraft of Bengal comprises different forms of handcrafted art including terracotta. Bengal is a leading exporter of home décor items of cane, jute and terracotta, which you can shop for in Poush Mela. The fairground of Poush Mela is a great temporary marketplace for the folk artisans and rural craftsmen to sell their merchandise.

The Lesser-known Artists of Raghurajpur

Taste Local Sweetmeats

The fairground of Poush Mela in Shantiniketan is a makeshift culinary market with innumerable food stalls facing each other in several rows. The local sweetmeat sellers gather on the fairground to treat the visitors to the delicacies of rural Bengal. If you are a foodie, you must taste some because those local delicacies are not available out of Bengal.

Air travel to Bengal was never so cheap as it is now, because of Indian Eagle’s cheap flight deals for Kolkata throughout the year. Even cheap last minute travel to Kolkata is guaranteed at Indian Eagle. 

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Durga Puja, the grandest festival of Bengal in India, is a traditional ceremony dedicated to the worship of Devi Durga, the goddess of power (Shakti), in form of Divine Mother. Though Bengal has been the epicenter of this festivity since the 15th century, it has become a global celebration with the migration of Bengalis to other countries. How glittering and glorious Durga Puja is, will be convincing to you, if you ever travel to Kolkata in the month of October. To be precise, it is the ultimate cultural extravaganza and festive gala in Bengal, the history of which is associated with the Muslim rule and the British Raj in India.

Durga Puja celebration was an emblem of prosperity and power in the aristocratic class of Bengalis, to say landlords as shown in the National Award winning movies of Rituparno Ghosh, such as Utsav, Hirer Angti and Antarmahal. It is heard that some influential landlords invited the British officials to attend the celebration so that they could be in good books of the British East Indian Company. With the passing of time, Durga Puja became a mass celebration outside the embellished interiors of palatial houses in Bengal.

However, there are different legends about the origin of Durga Puja. According to the folklores of Bengal, the landlords of Malda and Dinajpur were the first to have initiated the celebration in the 15^th century. The Ramayana, one of the two great Indian epics, says that Lord Rama had first worshipped Devi Durga to be blessed with victory over Ravana. Let’s keep aside the controversies, myths, legends and folklores to focus on the men at work behind the canvas – the clay idol makers or potters at Kumortuli in Kolkata, on the bank of Hugli River.

You might have caught gripping glimpses of Durga Puja celebration in some Bollywood movies, to say Pradip Sarkar’s Parineeta and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas. But, Kumortuli where thousands of Durga idols are made for domestic celebrations and Bengali communities on foreign shores has remained out of the focus of directors’ camera lens. The 5-day long celebration follows preparations for 3 to 4 months. The making of Durga idols at Kumortuli is the major part of the preparation. Kumortuli, the hub of clay idol makers and potters by the riverside is one of the best tourist attractions in Kolkata City.

Also Check: How to Save Big on Flights to Kolkata

Kumortuli is older than the city itself. The foundation of the city dates back to the year 1690, whereas Kumortuli has been in existence long before that. The ancestors of today’s potters were said to have migrated from their native land Krishnanagar to Gobindapore, one of the three villages the then Calcutta was formed of, in quest of sustenance. They settled by the river of Ganga or Hooghly River and began to make clay pots, utensils and idols. Since then, they have been supplying idols to puja committees at home and abroad.

The idol making process is, at times, disturbed by adverse atmospheric conditions. The artisans at work brave all odds to get the idols ready by Mahalaya, the day of invoking Goddess Durga. However, it is a pleasure to watch the artisans make life-like idols out of clay. These days, the making of theme-based artistic idols with an aesthetic aura is a popular trend due to stiff competition among the puja committees. The concrete image of Devi Durga sitting on a lion and slaying the buffalo demon at her feet evokes awe, wonder and devotion.

The artisans of Kumortuli remain in the dark on the flipside of grand, spectacular Durga Puja festival though their innovative creations are cruised to overseas Bengali communities in the USA, Europe, Africa, Australia and other countries. Being an overseas Indian, you celebrate Durga Puja away from home every year, but the feel, the flavor and the fervor of the festivity are to be experienced only in Kolkata, in Bengal, in India.

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Bengal is all set to add a new tourist attraction to the list of the best places to visit in Kolkata. It is a brand new museum on the history of College Street in the heart of Kolkata. Though the Wikipedia page of College Street has got a very little to say about this popular landmark in the City of Joy, the upcoming museum will walk you through the bygone days when College Street used to be the epicenter of Bengal’s educational evolution and a socio-political haven for the then Calcutta’s intelligentsia.

Image Credit: Anindya Chattopadhyay, Times of India

To be set up at Sanskrit University’s College Street campus, the museum will also exhibit Bengal’s eventful journey from the then Calcutta to the present Kolkata, which College Street has been an integral part of for decades. Glimpses of how the undivided Bengal became an educational hub of prestigious institutions such as Presidency University and Calcutta University in British India will be showcased at the museum on College Street.

Colloquially known as Boi Para (Colony of Books), College Street carries the footprints of the then Presidency College’s eminent alumni including Swami Vivekananda, Subhash Chandra Bose, Amartya Sen, Satyajit Ray, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Aparna Sen, Ashok Kumar, Sukumar Sen, Jibanananda Das, Shankha Ghosh, Meghnad Saha, Bankim Chandra, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and likes.

The proposed museum on College Street will be a mirror to the political landscape of Calcutta. The blooded history of such political movements as India’s freedom struggle and Bengal’s Naxal movement in free India will be on display in the museum.

The month-long, historical agitation against the hike of tram fares in the post-independence era of Calcutta will also be part of the exhibition in the museum on College Street in Kolkata. The mass protest against the British Tram Company’s decision to increase fares by one paisa for the unhappy tram commuters in 1953 is still a haunting tale of two cities – Calcutta and Howrah.

The largest second-hand book market in the world, College Street is widely known for the famed Coffee House in Kolkata. The upcoming museum on College Street is simply unimaginable without depicting the stories of Coffee House, a popular hangout for the literati like Rabindranath Tagore, Manna Dey, Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray, and political revolutionaries in the bygone heady days of Bengal.

Also, the museum will depict interesting glimpses of life in College Street which echoes the cacophony of bargaining between customers and shopkeepers at hundreds of bookstores on both sides of the road. How the decades-old bookstores came into existence and have managed to survive in the rapidly changing digital landscape will be a part of the museum on College Street in Kolkata.

Other Interesting Stories of Kolkata

• New Bangkok-like Floating Market in Kolkata
• Upcoming Sweet Hub near Kolkata Airport
• Tips on Booking Cheap Flights to Kolkata
• All about Kolkata’s Hand-pulled Rickshaws

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Kolkata has been a London of the East for years. Being an erstwhile capital of British India, Kolkata has multiple similarities to London. With tea, tram, the Victoria Memorial, Gothic architecture, the wax museum, the replica of Big Ben and the Eco Park resembling London’s Hyde Park, Kolkata is no less than the capital of Britain. With the newly opened floating market, the City of Joy has turned over a new leaf. The floating market in Kolkata likens the city to Venice or Thailand.

Located at Patuli on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the floating market in Kolkata is a brand new tourist place for inbound travelers. Initially, 114 boats are anchored in an order on a sprawling lake, and as many as 228 shopkeepers are offering their fresh merchandise of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other daily commodities. There will be 150 boats, at least, in the near future.

Kolkata’s first market on water operates from 6 PM to 9 PM in the evening. It has wooden walkways for buyers and visitors to reach the boats at a distance from the shore. The floating market in Kolkata may not be as beautiful as Kashmir’s Dal Lake market, but it has its own beauty which glitters after the sun sets. The lake has been beautified with lively sculptures on the shore.

Actually, the floating market in Kolkata is a rehabilitation project for the welfare of the shopkeepers who were evacuated to facilitate a major extension of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came up with the project based on her idea borrowed from Bangkok and got it executed at a cost of INR 9 crore. The market operates under the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

The locals have already started comparing the city to Bangkok and Venice. The floating market is not just a rehabilitation project but one of the places to visit in Kolkata. It will surely be among the best places for photography in Kolkata. Furthermore, the city boasts Seven Wonders of the World in the Eco Park.

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Durga Puja is one of the few best things that Kolkata is famed for and identified with. It is the only occasion when the City of Joy looks and feels like a new bride in flamboyant fineries. What makes Kolkata a must visit during Durga Puja is not only the beating of dhaaks, the fragrance of shiuli flowers, the flavor of traditional Bengali food, the emotive power of the festive ambience and the memories of family get-togethers or friendly adda but also hopping of puja pandals featuring new themes, pleasing and thought-provoking.

No wonder why many NRI Bengalis book even last minute flights to Kolkata. After all, Durga Puja is a homecoming celebration like Onam in Kerala and Diwali in North India.

Kolkata Durga Puja Themes 2017

The beauty of London is among the major themes of Kolkata Durga Puja 2017. Some of the city-based puja committees have roped in renowned fashion designers like Sharbari Datta to add a trendy look to the attires of idols, while some others have chosen London as a predominant theme. Needless to say, Kolkata is the London of the East.

Two of the leading puja committees are all set to model pandals on London for Durga Puja 2017 in Kolkata. Bhowanipore’s 75 Palli in South Kolkata and Santosh Mitra Square in Central Kolkata are known for their crowd-pulling, award-winning, unique Durga puja themes. These two historic Durga puja committees seem the craftsmen of Bengal CM Mamata Bannerjee’s dream of turning Kolkata into London this year.

Kolkata Durga Puja 2017: Santosh Mitra Square

Incepted in 1936, Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja (Lebutala Park) is one of the oldest Kolkata Durga Puja celebrations. Initially known as Sealdah Sarbojanin Durgoutsav, the Santosh Mitra Square puja committee will make a public square of London come alive in the forecourt of their pandal for Durga Puja 2017 in Kolkata. The interior of the pandal will feature traditional decorations while a colossal chandelier will dominate the ceiling.

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The Santosh Mitra Square puja committee has teamed up with eminent fashion designer Agnimitra Paul to design clothes for the idols, which will make Kolkata Durga Puja 2017 a memorable one for revelers. Reportedly, clothes of Goddess Durga, the demon and other idols will be designed on the lines of the fashion in the colonial era when Calcutta was the capital of British India. Gold and zari will largely be used in weaving the designer clothes.

Kolkata Durga Puja 2017: Bhowanipore 75 Palli

A sprawling area of 40,000 square feet in front of the 75 Palli puja pandal in South Kolkata will become alive as a typical London street this year. The things common between Kolkata and London will be the attractions of Bhowanipore 75 Palli’s pandal for Kolkata Durga puja 2017. Reportedly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been invited to inaugurate this pandal

The Bhowanipore 75 Palli puja committee has planned to model the pandal gate on the Big Ben in London and the altar of the idols on the London Bridge. The Palace of Westminster, which houses the British Parliament, will also be recreated to complement the ‘London’ theme of the pandal. The lights of the pandal will resemble those on the streets of London.

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Artistic idols made of mahogany wood and brass in North Bengal will add to the grandeur of 75 Palli’s Durga puja 2017 in Kolkata. Decorated with Dokra artworks, the idols are given a retro look from the bygone days. Being crafted by a group of artisans in North Bengal which rolls under mayhem over the demand for a separate state is brewing in, the idols would send out a message of peace and harmony over discrimination.

Since 2017 is the year of the Indo-UK culture, the Bhowanipore 75 Palli puja committee has associated with the London Sharad Utsav and the British Council to work on their London-inspired Durga puja theme. This South Kolkata Durga Puja 2017 pandal will also highlight Bengal CM’s award-winning ‘Kanyashree’ project.

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