Tuesday 11 October 2016

Durga Puja 2016 Nabami Tour

Sorry folks, I couldn’t do the write up for Puja parikrama for these past two days, because I was too exhausted. We went out in the morning and then came back in the evening and went straight to sleep. Hadn’t had any energy left to write about anything. Anyway, on the last day, I am going to be recounting where all we went out for the Nabami tour.
We chose extreme south this time for our Nabami tour. I hadn’t visited this part of the city for a long long time and it was a trip well worth it.

Lake Kalibari

So, we started by taking an Uber to Lake Kalibari. As luck would have it, we reached right at the time of Nabami Anjali and it was pouring rain over there. While we waited for the rain to subside we went into the temple and saw the newly built Saraswasti Temple in there. Saraswati is resplendent here in absolute white. Here’s a picture.


Ballygunge Cultural Association

Its a short walk from Lake Kalibari and the whole theme has a very warm feeling to it.






Tridhara Sammilani Club

This was a stunning depiction of a tribal village with its main occupation being hunting. The oversized buffalo heads, skins, tree houses, tribal masks, the effect was stunning. Maa has the look of a tribal goddess. I wanted to hang around a little bit more and gawk at it but the rains spoiled the plan and so I couldn’t get you a decent enough pic of the idol. Still, hope these few shots help.







Deshopriya Park

This year they came up with Maa’s 1000 hands. The entire pandal is one giant head of Mahishasur. As you can see from the pic below, Maa with her 1000 hands is a difficult feat to be worshiped, so they had installed a small chamber underneath the main idol and a beautiful Durga idol of sanatani look was actually the one being worshiped. Unfortunately, the poor lighting and the crowd didn’t let me take a satisfying picture of her, but hope this one helps.



Chetla Agrani Club
This club is always a big crowd puller and they haven’t disappointed this year too. The theme is one of artistry one with golden bamboos and stuff which I didn’t really get, but the effect was beautiful. By the way, did you know that the club has their own theme song? Yeah, they kept playing it over and over again. Well, still have a long way to go.






66 Palli
Honestly, I have never been in this part of the city before for pandal hopping and the trip was totally worth it. Basically, what 66 Palli did was, they took a ginormous painting of the old Kolkata and made 3D projection out of it. For those who grew up in the old parts of the city like me, the background music of Akashvani, and the old lamp posts and post offices, with hand pulled rickshaws, it was a huge attraction. We reveled in the glimpses of the city of our childhood.




Yes, this is made entirely of paper and cardboard. Amazing, isn’t it?






We loitered around for quite a long time here, mercifully the rain had stopped by then.

Badamtala Ashar Sangha

They took the Zodiac signs and brick chips and Maa surrounded by the 12 signs and the effect was a very terracotta style building. Even the hangings were made of brick chips, Maa really is Mrinmayee here. I took a long time posing in front of my Zodiac, but the others were equally beautifully made.







Shib Mandir

Shib Mandir came up with the theme of a pandal made of everyday household article of wood and created an absolutely stunning Choukhupi. The pandal is made entirely of wood and ply. The doors could easily have been the Singha Darja of a Zamindar Bari. I can’t say enough about this creation. To get the full effect of the clever lighting and Mrinmayee murti with its look of polished wood is just something one has to be there. The multiple awards are totally justified.



They put these things on the ceiling.




Lake Youth Corner

Nestled in an abandoned Buddhist Monastery, Maa is completely golden. An unexpected gift, we arrived just as the Navami Puja was going on.




Mudiali Club

From outside, the Sun Chariot was not inspiring and to tell the truth I was a little disappointed. But once inside, Mudiali once again showed its mettle. The pandal is Rajasthani styled, the peacocks, the lanterns. And Maa herself is dressed as a Rajasthani princess with her face so serene and sweet. It was beautiful. The colors, the lighting, everything.





Okay, the pics totally suck, I had completely forgotten to put my camera in HDR mode, silly me. :(

Suruchi Sangha

Our last stop was Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore and man! The hype was totally justified. The pandal is inspired by the architecture of a Monastery somewhere in Bhutan. With its fluttering prayer flags in tall flagpoles, the turning prayer wheels, the 3 headed dragons, the very life like goblins and the huge statue of Buddha seated amongst lotuses are so like the original, it will inspire you to visit Bhutan, which, by the way, is a beautiful country I hear. This is a must see. Especially the paintwork, the use of blue was mesmerising!
And thankfully, by this time, I had gathered enough sense and had put my camera's my Super Resolution on. Let's see how the snaps came out.







This one's my favorite!!







Okay, Super Resolution soooo totally didn't work inside. Sorry about that! I promise I will do better next time.

That was it for Nabami. I night go out today again to cover the rest of the city.
As always, I hope I could help you get a glimpse of your city at it best.