West Bengal and Kolkata bid Goddess Durga goodbye with a grand carnival attended by dignitaries and foreign delegates along with tourists attending the Durga Puja this time. The celebrations were even bigger this year because of the Durga Puja making it to the UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list, putting it at par with some of the biggest cultural events across the world.
The Durga Puja Carnival 2022 was billed as an event to showcase the cultural importance of the Durga Puja in Bengal and other parts of eastern India, which transcends all boundaries of religion and divisions, even though essentially it is a Hindu festival. And coming at a time, when across the country there have been incidents of violence against religious minorities over access to celebrations, this time, Durga Puja's inclusive spirit has been left untouched by any incident of polarisation and religious divide.
The carnival that began with a parade by talented bikers from the Kolkata Police lasted nearly five hours with 94 Maa Durga idols moving in a parade with applause from the guests who had been housed in stands erected all along the iconic Red Road of Kolkata.
The carnival began with a parade by talented bikers from the Kolkata Police and later many artistes performed
The carnival is the brainchild of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who attended the entire event. She walked the length of the Red Road welcoming visitors to the carnival before sharing the stage with her ministers and celebrities from the Bengali film industry. The carnival was last held in 2019 as the Covid pandemic restrictions meant that the carnival could not be organised for the last two years.
Ms Banerjee was seen playing a ukulele, an ektara (instrument used by Baul singers of Bengal) and even dancing and taking part in an impromptu dandiya as several puja organised put up short shows based on their puja theme.
She got off the stage several times to join the celebrations and distributed chocolates among children who were part of the show. The police often had to request the participants in the parade to move on and make way for the next group as almost everyone wanted selfies with the celebrities and the Chief Minister.
The Durga Puja Carnival 2022 was billed as an event to showcase the cultural importance of the Durga Puja in Bengal
Diplomats in the city were also in attendance, including the Consul-General of the US, the UK and other countries. The Chief Minister walked across the road to the identical stand erected on the other side exactly opposite her stand to thank the diplomats present for attending the carnival which has now become the last event in the Durga Puja calendar.
Given its grandeur and scale, it is perhaps one of the biggest carnivals in the country as the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal credits the Chief Minister for putting Durga Puja in the global cultural events calendar.
As the parade passed Red Road, several puja organisers, many of whom get grants and subsidies on electricity, carried posters and gigantic images of Ms Banerjee, thanking her for her efforts to the get the festival included in the UNESCO list which has put it on the global map.
Several pandals also performed to songs penned and composed by Ms Banerjee. As the celebration ended a little after 9 pm, the Chief Minister promised even bigger celebrations next year with the common refrain, "Aschey bochor abar hobey," which translates into, "We will celebrate next year, again."
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