Kolkata’s Durga Puja pandals, which are a result of an immense hard work of 6 months, are attracting people from all across the globe. More than 4000 exquisite pandals have been prepared in Kolkata city, and all the pandals have themes completely different from the other. In the wake of the completion of 75 years of Indian independence, hundreds of pandals have been prepared to showcase crucial events, movements etc., related to the movement of Indian independence.
Beautiful use of technology can also be seen in many pandals; in a number of pandals, robots are welcoming the devotees. From tribal lifestyle to cultural heritage, the pandals have it all. One of the pandals has been made with coins minted after Indian independence. This time, most of the pandals were opened up even before the occasion of Mahalaya. A three-week holiday has been announced in West Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja, and the markets are heavily crowded. The situation is such that if one wishes to travel just even 5 KMs via car, it might take 1 hour to reach the destination.
It is worth noting that while thousands of tourists are visiting Kolkata to be a part of the renowned Durga Puja celebrations, many locals are going to other places to enjoy a vacation, but they will return till the last days of the Puja.
In Bhawanipur’s 75 Palli, a unique pandal has been created, wherein, the disappearing Pattachitra art of Bengal has been tried to be revived. The pandal has more than 5000 paintings on clothing, which have been prepared by more than 50 artists. The organizers have stated that preparations were being made for the last two years to build the pandal based on this theme. Not a single painting has been repeated here.
On the other hand, the Lake Town Road is witnessing regular massive traffic jams and it has been divided into two parts, one for the pedestrians and the other for vehicles, and both the parts are getting jammed. Here is the pandal prepared by the Shri Bhoomi Sporting Club, and to view it, people are waiting for hours at a stretch. In order to avert stampede like situations, heavy police deployment is at place. There was a pandal here in 2017 as well, but it wasn’t as crowded as this time.
