Goddess Durga stands tall in the pandal, her beautiful face glows as the slayed demon lies at her feet. This is Durgapuja in Kolkata. A festival of five days where the Goddess is worshipped in unbelievably magnificent pandals handcrafted by artisans. Her golden body is made in clay.
The entire city is an ocean of pedestrians, traveling from one pandal to the other. This year I felt most alive while jostling in the maddening crowds, in dizzying pandals, smelling rolls and fish fry, navigating bamboo barricades, dodging millions of selfie arms, eating melting chocobars, watching the pujari leaping leaping leaping, during evening arti, and listening to the drums rolling. I felt high, on a straight path to my childhood or maybe, heaven.
While untangling my limbs from the larger human mass of blood, flesh and perspiration, I made some delightful observations.
- In the crushing crowds, we are all equal.
- Celebrating Shakti in a female form is a pretty cool thing, especially in a country still plagued by oppression of women.
- At the end of the festival, the magnificent goddess is immersed in water. Her body unravels and becomes part of the river bed. The pandals are dismantled. A true reflection of life. Nothing is permanent. Renew and rebuild is all we can do.
Learn More about Durga Puja:
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/durga-puja-in-kolkata-00703
https://www.holidify.com/pages/durga-puja-festival-in-kolkata-1507.html
