A giant melting pot. A global spectacle. A public art festival. The Red Road carnival lived up to all the tags associated with Durga Puja in Calcutta. Around 100 pujas paraded their idols on Saturday evening, mesmerising packed galleries on both flanks of the road. Hundreds of people who could not make it to the galleries stood behind police barricades to catch a glimpse.
Many others squatted on the Maidan in front of giant screens showing the parade.The idols were varied — the Goddess reading a book to her children, the Goddess as a symbol of universal shelter and the Goddess in the traditional mould.
A short musical performance was part of almost every procession. Jaydip Pramanick, a trader on Kalakar Street in Burrabazar, and his son, Soumyadip, were among the early birds.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Durga Puja carnival on Red Road on Saturday evening.
By 3.30pm, they were seated in one of the galleries.
“We came early because we wanted to see the carnival from the front row. I anticipated a huge rush as the carnival is being held after a long time and also because of the Unescorecognition,” said Pramanicksenior.
The Red Road carnival is back after two years because of the pandemic. Calcutta’s Durga Puja is now included on the Unesco list of “intangible cultural heritage”.
Soumyadip, a Class VIII student, said: “I have seen almostall the idols in north Calcutta. I am here to see the best pujas of south Calcutta”.The gallery meant for diplomats and other foreigners was packed. Rachel Davies, a researcher at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, was seated in the second row, clad in a cotton salwar kameez.
Davies, researching Christian theology, is writing a book on Mother Teresa. She has been in Calcutta for a month because she wants to understand the city beyond its association with Mother Teresa.
“Calcutta challenges me with all its diversity and complexity,” said Davies, who has been to “some 60 puja pandals” during Durga Puja.
“In Puja, I saw a public art festival. The involvement of the community is the biggest takeaway. This art is not for experts only. It is for the people. The Puja installations are like a window into different parts of the city, into the characteristics of different neighbourhoods. I have been to places but this experience is unique,” said Davies, who holds three passports — she was born in Canada, raised in the US and settled in Australia.
Davies had come with an Italian friend, Alberto Magnano. Many foreigners filmed the procession. Among them was a group from the University of Linkoping in Sweden.
Fredrik Gregorius, a lecturer in the department of history, arts and religious studies, said the group was on a tour of India as part of an educational programme.
“Sweden is not that big on religion. India is very different. But we know that Calcutta’s Durga Puja is more of a socio-cultural festival than a religious event,” said Gregorius, seated with two students, Evelina Fiall and Robin Berglof, and colleague Bjoru Segrell, who teaches at the department of thematic studies and environmental change.
The group reached the city on Dashami. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee reached Red Road around 4.15pm and stayed through the programme. She kept swaying her head to the beats of the dhak. Every now and then, she came down a dais built along the road to cuddle children who performed in the parade. She played the kansar and, at least once, shook a leg with the dancers.