Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

179th year's Jagadhatri Puja of Bagbazar, Chandannagar. -- A. B.

Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the International Film Festival at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata this evening. Earlier, Deb & Koel Mullick felicitated BigB. Shahrukh Khan, Kamal Hasan, Mithun Chakraborty, Jaya Bachchan and all the distinguished artists of Tollywood are present there too. -- A. B.

61 year's Jagadhatri Puja 2013 of Fatakgora, Chandannagar. -- A. B.

The last test match of Sachin Tendulkar at Eden Garden is now going on. It is his 199th test match. Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has planned to give farewell to Sachin by various ways. On the 3rd day of match, 199 bunches of balloons will kick by CAB amongst which 25 balloons would consist a bunch and the last bunch will be comprised of 100 balloons. 4th Day : Brian Lara will present on the stadium. And on the last day, three small air planes will fall 199 kgs of roses on the playground. P.S. The match ended on the 3rd day. So,the events of 4th and last day were postponed. -- A. B.

Jagadhatri Puja - 4 days to go. So, the making of idol is now in brisk progress. -- A. B.

Rabindranath Tagore liked the loveliness of Bhai Fonta (ভাই ফোঁটা) very much. So, he never missed the sweet opportunity to take fonta (ফোঁটা) from his cousins and other sisters. Soudamini-Sharatkumari-Sukumari-Swarnakumari-Barnakumari used to give fonta to Dwijendranath-Satyendranath-Hemendranath-Jyotindranath! and Rabindranath too. After the initial rituals, the sister used to serve dishes full of sweets to her elder brother Rabindranath and in exchange, the poet used to give her cash, even it so small - it was the token of respect and love. That money was being supplied to young Rabindranath by some elder of poets family. Rabindranath was then adolescent of 15 years old. Bouthan Kadambari Debi used to take care of him and other brothers of Rabindranath. The poet lost his mother, so Bouthan was his shelter to seek indulgence. Kadambari Debi used to get monthly sum from his husband Jyotirindranath. And she used to give the required money to Rabindranath for his 'prana

Kali puja at Nalikul station bazar area. The idol is very beautiful. -- A. B.

Madanmohan Pramanik, an artisan of copper from Sahagunge, Hooghly, came to Kolkata to reside permanently and started trading copper and brass. His grandson Tarak Pramanik used to reside at Simla area and started Kali Puja in house. The puja is being performed according to Kalikapuran. An image of scorpion is on the left foot of goddess Kali. Sacrifice of animals are prohibited here. And all the weights (বাটখারা) of the business are being worshiped on the first Pratipad tithi after Amabasya. -- A. B.

The 'ship' (জাহাজ) sarkar of Madanmohan Dutta of Hatkhola was later became the foremost merchant Ramdulal Sarkar. His original surname was Dey, but he was better known as Sarkar. He had built a palace at Simla area of Kolkata and used to reside there. He used to worship various gods & goddesses. Kali puja is one of them. -- A. B.

The first picture on the left is the idol of goddess Kali of the house of Jagatram Dutta of Hatkhola. He was the grandson of Ramchandra Dutta and Dewan of East India Company's Export-Import department of Patna Warehouse. He left the ancestral house, and built the palace at 78, Nimtala Ghat Street (presently). This palace is remarkable in the perspective of its architecture. According to the then custom, he initiated Kali puja in his house. It is the idol of Dakshina Kali. The second picture on the right is the idol of goddess Kali of the Mitra Bari of Dorji Para. This Mitra family reside at Nilmoni Mitra Street of Dorji Para. And it is very ancient puja. Once the grandson of Nilmoni Mitra, Prankrishna, at the younger age, made an idol of goddess Kali without prior motive. And that was the beginning of puja. But he made the idol where goddess Kali was stepping her LEFT foot on the chest of lord Shiva. And since then, the idol is being made by keeping this mistake int

Ramchandra Dutta, hailed from DuttaChoudhury family of Andul, came from Gobindapur at the end of nineteenth century and had to reside at the Chitpur-Hatkhola area. His original house and thakur dalan are situated near Nimtala burning ghat. Later, this palace was succeeded by Ghosh family. But, the grandeur and tradition of Kali puja is remained the same. 'ডাকের সাজ' is the speciality of this puja. -- A. B.

Maha Kali Puja is now being performed at Dakshineswar temple as usual. A cultural function is organised on this occasion, where Sri Radha Bandyopadhyay was singing devotional songs in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. -- A. B.