Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

1. Charak 2. Saraswati 3. Jagannath Snanjatra 4. Poila Boishakh (হালখাতা) 5. Rathyatra 6. Ganga & Manasa Puja 7. Sri Sri Jagadhatri Puja 8. Rathyatra 9. Hara-Parbarti & Chandra Raja Kala Mantri 10. Sri Sri Lakshmi Puja 11. Sri Sri Shib Ratri 12. Nutan Panjika, 1894-95 13. Sri Sri Durga Puja 14. Dashahara 15. Shib Chaturdashi 16. Snanjatra 17. Sri Sri Sharadiya Puja 18. Brihaspati Raja Dibakar Mantri 19. Charak 20. Kali 21. Bijoy Utsab of Sri Ramchandra 22. Ganga Puja 23. Sri Sri Durga Puja 24. Bhai Font 25. Dol Yatra Of Sri Krishna 26. Rathyatra 27. Durga Puja The first almanac in Bengali was published in the year 1818 by a brahmin of Jorasanko, named Durgaprasad. A full page picture by the technic of Xylograph was published in this almanac. It was the picture of sun eclipse. The famous Panchanan Karmakar of Serampore, who was the pioneer of Bangla font on block to print, had son-in-law named Manohar Karmakar. Krishnachandra(born in 1807), t

An ancient idol of lord Vishnu has been recovered at the village Kotalhati of Gajole block in the district of Malda recently. It belongs to 9 or 10th century when Paul dynasty was reigning in Bengal, it is the opinion of archaeologists. The idol is in standing pose and made of black stone. It is one of those 24 images of Vishnu, named 'Tribikram'. This 2 & half feet high idol was found from a pond during excavation. -- A. B.

Burrabazar of Kolkata expanded from a yarn and textile market into one of the largest wholesale markets in India. Burrabazar is divided into highly specialised sub-markets, according to the commodity it deals in – Dhotipatti, Fancypatti, Tulapatti, Chinipatti etc. Further subdivisions are katra, chowk or kothi. A popular saying goes, "Anything and everything is available at Burrabazar. Even the tiger's eye is available here if you pay the right price." Each katra (market) is known for a particular item. There are approximately 25 katras in Burrabazar. At Raja Katra, which originally belonged to the Maharaja of Bardhaman , most of the shops deal in spices. At Manohar Das Katra it is mostly hardware and textile. Vikram Chand Market and Khangrapatti sell mostly electronic goods and artificial ornaments.

After the success of 'Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy', Sandip Roy completed the shooting of his new Bangla film comprises 4 short stories of renowned writers like Satyajit Ray, Parashuram and Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The stories are 'Dui Bandhu' (the 1st pic) by Satyajit Ray, 'Bateswarer Abadan' (the 2nd pic) by Parashuram, 'Kagtarua' (the 3rd pic) by Satyajit Ray and 'Pariksha' by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. In the episode of 'Dui Bandhu', Pijush Gangopadhyay has played the role of Mahim and Rajatava Dutta has played the role of Pratul. In the episode of 'Bateswarer Abadan', Paran Bandyopadhyay has played the role of Bateswar. Srilekha Mitra is in the film with him. In the episode 'Kagtarua', Paran Bandyopadhyay again has played the leading role. Shaswata has played the role of writer here. The fourth story 'Pariksha' is a unique one played by Shaswata Chatterjee in the leading role. All the four stories are different, but f

Preparation of Santa Claus is going on in the city Kolkata for the ensuing Christmas. -- A. B.

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Today is Raas - the festival of Radha & Krishna. Once the reputation of Raas of Mitra Bari of Simulia Pally, North Kolkata was known to all. It is still there by adopting 'Brindaboni' method. In ancient time, several Raas used to perform in Kolkata. Such as Naba-Brindaban at Bagbazar and Gupt-Brindaban at Ramdulal Sarkar Street. But, the "Raas Utsav" was most famous in North Kolkata at the residence of Mitra family. This house is situated at Simulia Pally, south of Ananth Nath Deb's market, presently at Ramdulal Sarkar Street. Rajiblochan Mitra of Barisha went to Konnagar of Hooghly district in 16th century to reside. His old grand grandson Ayodhya Ram Mitra used to reside at Halishahor in the third part of 18th century by the source of marriage. His grandson, the founder of Mitra family of Simulia (the old Sutanuti) Pally was Madanmohan Mitra. He was a business tycoon and came to Kolkata from his ancestral house at Halishahor to reside. He est

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It is the bathing ghat at Bagbazar where Ma Sarada used to take bath during her staying near the ghat from 23 May, 1909 to 20 July, 1920. This bathing ghat is known to all as 'Mayer Ghat'. Kolkata Municipal Corporation has taken a mega project to renovate this ghat along with 'Mayer Bari' or the house of Ma Sarada. -- A. B.

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34th year's Jagadhatri puja of Balak Sangha, Chandannagar. The idol is very beautiful here. -- A. B.