My KOLKATA BLOG

Ghetu Puja will perform on Phalguni sangkranti, the day is also called Ghetu sankranti which is falling this year on 14 March, Friday. Ghetu flowers are blooming vastly across Bengal. A few years ago childrens of rural Bengal used to sing Ghetu gaan (song) in evening. But nowadays this custom is almost became obsolete. These pictures are of ghetu flowers, the pics were taken on 28 February this year.

In the year 1857, on this day (4 March) the first exhibition of photographs of Photographic Society Of Bengal was held at Town Hall of Calcutta (now Kolkata). In the year 1856 an organisation named Bengal Photographic Society was formed by some photographers in Kolkata. Their main aim was to support and promote photography and pave the way for exhibition of photographs. In March 1857, the first exhibition of 460 photographs was held at Town Hall of Kolkata - it was 4th March. The exhibition was a huge success. 

 1 March of this year is the 143rd birthday of Bengali poet Kumud Ranjan Mullick who was one of the prominent contemporary poet of Rabindranath Tagore. The first picture of this post is the house of poet Kumud Ranjan, situated on the bank of river Ajoy at village Kogram under Mangalkote block in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal. The last picture is  the portrait of poet himself.  The poet Kumud Ranjan was born in this house. This Kogram village is located near Natunhat bus stand. Nobody is living in this house now, only the caretaker is  there to take care. But, tourists are visiting this house frequently. 'Madhukar' (means bee) is the name of this house. 

2 February, 2025 is Saraswati Puja, so at Kumartuli of Kolkata, the artisans are now very busy there to finish the clay idols of goddess Saraswati so that the worshippers may collect the idols for Puja before 2nd of next month. I've seen different models of devi Saraswati there being made. Some of them are now almost finished and some idols are under progress. But one thing is noteworthy, the idols are very much attractive.

Today is 12th January - 163rd Birthday of Swami Vivekananda. Swamiji was born in Simla area of North Kolkata at his ancestral home, but later in his youth he used to spend most of his days in his maternal house at Ramtanu Bose Lane of North Kolkata . Swamiji loved to stay in the room of 1st floor of this house (as shown in this picture) and used it as his study room.

  This year, 11 January is the date when the International Kite Festival was inaugurated in Ahmedabad. Every year, ambassadors from around the world visit Gujarat to witness this kite festival. This year, ambassadors from 11 countries have come to Gujarat. Food stall and craft stall vendors earn lakhs of rupees during the festival. Moreover, over five and a half lakh people attended the International Kite Festival last year. Gujarat has gained global recognition as the state that manufactures the most kites. Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Khambhat, and Surat have become hubs for kite production. Today, Gujarat holds a 65 percent share of the country’s kite market. Kites are also exported annually from Gujarat to countries like the USA, UK, and Canada. 143 kite flyers from 47 countries and 52 kite flyers from 11 other states in India are participating in this year’s festival. Moreover, 417 kite flyers from 11 cities in Gujarat are also taking part.  International Kite Festival 2025 will fe...