Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Durga Puja of Kolkata just indexed in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in the 16-members meeting of UNESCO held in Paris yesterday. It is a proud moment for not only Bengal, but for entire India. Out of 48 nominations there in the meeting, Durga Puja of Kolkata is the first of its kind in Asia. /> Now, it is proved that Durga Puja of Kolkata is not only a festival, but an emotion of entire nation. All the leaders and common people of the country are very happy to hear this news. /> Durga Puja of Bengal, especially of Kolkata is the biggest festival of the year, we know. But, recently, we witnessed the immersion carnival of Kolkata's Durga Puja at Red Road which was a great success. By organising this carnival - the whole world came to know that Kolkata has an old tradition and heritage of Durga Puja which belongs to Bengal's culture strongly. /> While considering Durga Puja of Kolkata as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the authori...

year on 'Shukla Ashtami tithi' (শুক্লা অষ্টমী তিথি) of Bengali month 'Agrahayan' (অগ্রহায়ণ), an ancient fair or 'mela' is organised in the area of Goswami Ghat (গোস্বামীঘাট) of Chandannagar. It is called Khunti Mela. This year, 11th December is the day, when the fair will start. /> On the said day, the annual puja of Radhaballav Jiu (রাধাবল্লভ জিউ) is held there. Jagadish Goswami (জগদীশ গোস্বামী) was the 'Parshod' (পার্শ্বদ) of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (শ্রীচৈতন্য মহাপ্রভু).  Mahaprabhu Shri Chaitanya Dev had given him a cooking spud (খুন্তি) made of brass and silver as a gift. The spud was fixed on a stand. Every year, the spud is being worshipped at Goswami Ghat of Chandannagar on the aforesaid day and a month-long fair or mela is organised there which is popularly known as "Khuntir Mela" (খুন্তির মেলা). /> As per book written by Shri Harihar Sheth, in old days the fair ground used to fill with the amusement of circus, puppet ...

async="" crossorigin="anonymous" src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6973460484243747"> > Satyajit Ray? No. He's Jeetu Kamal. But he's playing role of Satyajit Ray in a Bengali movie 'Aparajito' (অপরাজিত) by Anik Dutta - who made earlier the film 'Bhooter Bhabishyat' (ভুতের ভবিষ্যত). Director Anik Dutta is now making the film 'Aparajito' in which Jeetu Kamal is playing the role of Satyajit Ray making the movie 'Pather Panchali'. So, it is the film in which Anik Dutta is showing how the shooting of 'Pather Panchali' was done. > Shooting of this new film 'Aparajito' has been done near Bolpur of Birbhum district. Now, shooting in Kolkata will be done - at Sisir Mancha, Nandan and some other places. /> Sayani Ghosh is playing the role of Bijoya Roy. Cinebuffs are expecting some good from this film. ...

is growing colourful with the paintings on barren walls    PARK CIRCUS TRAM DEPOT  NEW TOWN      GOLAGHATA SUBWAY PHOOLBAGAN METRO      SCHOOL WALL ON RAWDON STREET CIT ROAD      BRAHMAPUR, GARIA GERMAN CONSULATE      BANGUR AVENUE SUBWAY

year I visited some puja pandals of goddess Kali at Nalikul - a small village of Hooghly district. Below are the pictures taken by me: in this image, Ma Kali is smiling, giving courage and hope to devotees. /> In this image, the look of Ma Kali is graceful. The colour of idols here is blue. It is the familiar colour commonly found in rural Bengal. /> Above are three images of goddess Kali of another club. Decoration here is very artistic. The image of goddess Kali here looks very generous, pleased to devotees. local fruits vendors organisd this Kali Puja, where the eyes of Ma Kali are very pleased to get the puja of devotees. The decoration is good. Ma Kali here used to stay once in a year in this permanent structure made of hay. /> Above are two separate idols of goddess Kali where the images I liked very much.

Kripamoyee Kali Mandir of Baranagar, popularly known as Joy Mitra Kali Bari, is situated on the bank of river Hooghly at Baranagar of Kolkata. Baranagar is a very old place, more than 500 years ago this place was existed.  Famous zaminder Joyram Mitra of Sovabazar established this temple in mid-April of the year 1851. He bought about 3 bighas land at Baranagar from some James saheb and established the temple there similar to Brahmamoyee Kali temple of Mulajor of Shyamnagar.The goddess here is Dakshina Kali (দক্ষিণা কালী). If you walk from 'Kuthi ghat' of Baranagar river bank a few steps ahead, you'll reach to the temple - 171 years old this temple is situated by the side of Hara Kumar Thakur Strand. Twelve temples of lord Shiva are there beside the main temple. The array and formation of these Shiva mandirs are very innovative. Ramakrishna Paramahansa dev used to visit this temple frequently. This temple was erected as 'Navratna' art. But it is not the formal slop...

It says, 'thhan thhan' sound of bell of Kali temple could be heard from the nearby jungle and some say, the then residents of that area installed a big bell there and rang it to alert other residents from the invasion of dacoits. /> Whatever it may be, the area got the peculiar name 'Than thane' (ঠনঠনে) and the Kali temple there too got the name 'Than thane Kali Bari' (ঠনঠনে কালী বাড়ি). In the year 1703 - that means about 320 years ago a Tantrik named Uday Narayan Brahmachari established Siddheswari Kali murti there made of clay. The area was surrounded by jungles at that time. Uday Narayan used to sit on 'Panchamundi Asan' (পঞ্চমুন্ডি আসন) and performed 'sadhana' (সাধনা).  Later, a local trader of Bahir Shimla near Than thane - Ramshankar Ghosh alias Shankar Ghosh erected a pacca 'Aat chala' (আটচালা) and temple (মন্দির) for goddess Kali there in the year 1806. But actualy, the mud temple was founded in the year 1703. By reckoning th...

Firingi Kali Bari is a famous temple of goddess Kali established by Antony Firingi or Antony Kabiyal (who used to compose songs instantly and sing) at Bowbazar Street. Once upon a time this place was a burning ghat (shamshan). Lord Shiva was there in a small room made of sedge leaves  (হোগলা পাতা) in front of sub-stream (খাল) of river Ganges. Kabiyal Antony Firingi regularly attended the Shiva temple. One day, he established there idol of Siddheswari (সিদ্ধেশ্বরী) Kali. Antony appointed Srimanta Pandit as Purohit or priest of Ma Kali. The idol of Siddheswari Kali is very good looking here - the crown of Kali is made of silver, the idol is decorated with various ornaments, the third eye of Ma Kali is not so angry. Irrespective of castes and creeds all the people comes here and pray for their well-being to goddess Kali. A 'Kaath Champa' (কাঠ চাঁপা) tree is there just behind the temple and the lower portion (কাণ্ড) of the tree is looks like the ox of lord Shiva. Many devotees bi...

Poote Kali Temple: Poote Kali temple is situated at Kali Krishna Tagore Street of Burra bazar area beside Tarasundari Park. The founder of this temple is Tantrik Manik Chandra (or Manik Ram) Bandyopadhyay. The temple is 'char chala' (চার চালা) and it has three peaks (চূড়া). The peaks have symbol of Chakra, Trishul and Pataka (flag). At the basement of this temple, there is a room. Here, the idol of goddess Kali is only 6 inches tall. There are several stories about the name of this temple. Some say, 'puti' (পুঁটি) means a small girl in Bengali. The deity here is only six inches tall, therefore, the small height of idol is responsible for the name 'Poote Kali'. Another story is behind the name of this temple. One day, Khelaram Bandyopadhyay - descendant of founder Manik Ram Bandyopadhyay was performing 'Homa' (হোম). In the meantime, a small fish (pooti mach) hopped to the 'homa' suddenly from the nearby 'khad' of river Ganga. Khelaram pi...

Yesterday, on auspicious occasion of 'Shukla Chaturdashi', special puja of Tara Ma was performed by the 'sebaits' of Devi Mauliksha at Kabichandrapur near Tarapith beside river Dwarka. Thousands of devotees observed the puja. On this day, 'sebaits' of Ma Tara bring the idol of Tara Ma on Biram Mancha at the said place and turned the face of Tara Ma towards village Maluti of Jharkhand /> A story is behind this event. It says that, Tara Ma and Devi Mauliksha of Maluti are two sisters. In the year 1701, the Rani of Natore and other priests performed puja of Tara Ma on this 'Biram Mancha' keeping the face of Tara Ma eastward. The Raja of Maluti - Rakharchandra sat to perform puja of Tara Ma there. By seeing this, annoyed priests forcefully stopped the Raja.   /> Resentment grew within the mind of Raja towards  Tara Ma for this untoward incident happened to him. He loitered and came to the west bank of river Dwarka at village Kabichandrapur near...