Durga Puja carnival makes its return post pandemic
On Saturday, October 8, the Durga Puja Carnival will be held on the Red Road. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the carnival because it will be held two years after the pandemic with numerous puja committees.
Earlier, the carnival was held only in Kolkata. It started in 2016. Because of the pandemic, the carnival could not be held in 2020 or 2021. It would be held in the city after a gap of two years. But this year, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has directed that carnivals should be held in all districts, ” said a senior government official.
Kolkata Police special force ‘Daredevil’ will inaugurate Pujo Carnival 2022 at Red Road, followed by Dona Gangopadhyay’s dance academy’s programme. But she is currently ill and just returned home from the hospital. As a result, it is not yet clear whether that event will happen or not. The event is scheduled to start at 4:30 pm and last for about three hours.
The Red Road event will be attended by UNESCO representatives. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and representatives of various embassies in Kolkata will be present.
Many industrialists and Chamber of Commerce representatives were invited. In the last two years, there has been no carnival at Red Road due to Corona. The administration claims that there was a carnival before that, but it was never before such a large-scale carnival.
In the carnival, each puja committee will get 2-3 minutes during which the cultural programme has to be performed in front of the main stage. A maximum of 50 members can participate in the Niranjan Padayatra on behalf of the club. Each club will get a maximum of 3 tableaux allocations. The height of the tableau, including the carriage, shall in no case exceed 16 feet.
North Tala Barwari will not go to the carnival. They announced their decision in a Facebook post on Ekadashi night. Aside from that, eight additional committees are leaving the carnival because it is a long-standing tradition to immerse the idols in water on the tenth day. They are not willing to break that custom.
According to the latest information, 90 puja committees will participate in the carnival. Apart from North and South Kolkata, the Pujas of Salt Lake and Howrah are on that list.
In addition to Kolkata, the districts will have puja carnivals on Friday. For instance, the Durga Puja carnival will begin at Durgapur’s Rajiv Gandhi Maidan. Gandhi Mor Maidan will be the destination. The main stage has been put up in front of the Mahila Mahavidyalaya at Priyadarshini Indira Sarani. At this festival, 15 of Durgapur’s top pujas will take part.
However, the state government has mandated that during the carnival processions, only green crackers would be permitted. The police in Kolkata have also released a set of rules for the city’s puja carnival. The Kolkata Police Department is taking extra precautions to avoid traffic congestion during Carnival. The movement of all goods vehicles will be under strict control, and on-street parking will also be restricted.
