{"id":120,"date":"2014-10-13T19:59:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T14:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/?p=120"},"modified":"2015-06-14T13:44:54","modified_gmt":"2015-06-14T08:14:54","slug":"durga-puja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/?p=120","title":{"rendered":"Durga Puja"},"content":{"rendered":"

This first day of Durga Puja is also known as Maha Shasthi, and during this\u00a0day\u00a0a series of rituals are performed to symbolically awaken\u00a0Durga. \u00a0For more information on the rituals of Durga Puja and their timings, check out<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bangalinet.com\/pujacalendar.htm<\/a> or\u00a0http:\/\/www.durga-pujas.com\/shashti.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For today’s pandal-hopping, Stan and I decided to return to Kumartuli, particularly to view the final installation of Dilip-da’s Durga pandal at\u00a0the Shovabazar Rajbari.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0005\"Waiting outside the Rajbari for the pandal viewing to begin later that evening.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0018\"First glimpse of Durga<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0319\"The Durga pandal with all of the\u00a0clothing, headdresses, jewelry and other props, except\u00a0– Durga’s hands are\u00a0yet to be holding their ten weapons.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0328\"Durga<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0336\"\"IMG_0732\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s the Ganesha, side by side with his earlier photo!<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0115\"A short distance from\u00a0the Shovabazar Rajbari\u00a0was this mountain-themed pandal, studded with giant heads. \u00a0A few close-ups follow:<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0091\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0099\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0103\"<\/p>\n

Inside, a contemporary rendition of the Durga scene\u00a0using near life-sized figures (sadly, some other pandal hoppers’ heads are blocking my view of Kartik and Ganesha).<\/p>\n

At the foot of this installation is a tiny traditional Durga pandal.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0108\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0076\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Around Kumartuli and pretty much everywhere in Kolkata, you will find advertisements using Durga to sell products and services. \u00a0These photos show ads selling underwear, health care, and food.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0089\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0005\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0233\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another lotus-themed pandal!<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0238\"<\/p>\n

This Durga has a cartoon-character quality.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0250\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0251\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Fabulous\u00a0chandelier<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0281\"<\/p>\n

On our way back to the metro, we stopped to check out one more traditional community pandal, tucked into a lane. \u00a0It was full of energetic and exuberant children! \u00a0 Their Durga is below.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0296\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC_0127_01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When we peeked into some of the Kumartuli workshops, some\u00a0image-makers were already hard at work on gigantic pandals for Kali Puja, which takes place in a few weeks’ time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


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This first day of Durga Puja is also known as Maha Shasthi, and during this\u00a0day\u00a0a series of rituals are performed to symbolically awaken\u00a0Durga. \u00a0For more information on the rituals of Durga Puja and their timings, check out http:\/\/www.bangalinet.com\/pujacalendar.htm or\u00a0http:\/\/www.durga-pujas.com\/shashti.shtml. For today’s pandal-hopping, Stan and I decided to return to Kumartuli, particularly to view the final … Continue reading Durga Puja<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,14,39,20,28,49,24,21,43,100],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-calcutta","tag-httpwww-cynthiasiegel-com","tag-dilipda","tag-durga-puja","tag-ganesha","tag-kali-puja","tag-kolkata","tag-kumartuli","tag-shovabazar-rajbari","tag-unfired-clay-sculpture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}