Mahalaya - The first day of "Devi paksha"

"Mahalaya" is the day from which countdown starts for the biggest festival of autumn season in Bengal. This is the new moon day that marks the end of "Pitri paksha", that is the period of the Gods, and the beginning of "Devi paksha", that is the period of the Goddesses. This is the day to pay homage to our ancestors to seek their blessings before we get into the celebration mood of the festival days.


People flock to the nearby banks of the river Ganga to observe the rituals of Mahalaya. Priests come early to execute the ritualistic procedures for themselves and to look for opportunities to earn a few extra money by guiding others who seek to be their "Yajmans" (the customers). Others set up temporary stalls on the bank of the river to sell items related to the ritual.

It is the festive season knocking at the door. So everyone is eager for that extra money which they can earn on this occasion. Even the children living in the streets nearby get into their business of fishing out the coins thrown at the river Ganga as offerings. They throw a stack of ring shaped magnets tied with a very long nylon thread into water to pull out the coins for them.The preparation for the four days long festival picks up huge momentum from this day.

To see all the photographs of Mahalaya please visit my Picasa album.
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Chinese Moon Festival in Kolkata

The Moon festival, also known as Mid-autumn festival, falls on the fifteenth (15th) day of the eighth (8th) lunar month of the Chinese calender. Mythological story of the fairy in the moon and a popular story, though historically unsupported, of overthrowing the Mongol rulers from China by the rebels are associated with this festival. On the whole it is a harvest festival when farmers celebrate the end of summer harvesting season and a get-together is organized with the family members and friends. Eating moon cakes and lighting decorated lanterns are some of the customs of this occasion.
In Kolkata the Indian Chinese community celebrated the festival, this year, on 14th September. A very close knit community of about four thousand members, they started the day with a special worship session at Sea Ip temple. Traditional rituals were observed with utmost sincerity. People offered some citrus fruits and mooncakes to the deities, and prayed for blessings. Some holy papers had been burnt by the devotees as part of the ritual. To satisfy the curiosity of the present writer the person maintaining the temple told that they were not simple papers, they represented money. However he didn't feel interested to explain the ritual to any detail. Mooncakes were sold in huge numbers in the nearby morning market.


The Indian Chinese Association organized a two days long programme to observe the festival at Sacred Heart School. On the first day, that is 13th September, a Fan Drawing competition was held. The children from the community were encouraged to run wild with their creativity to come up with beautiful decorating pictures for their fans. Frames made of bamboo were provided to them which they pasted with their drawings to turn them into nice hand fans. Seniors in the association chose the winners of the competition who were awarded in the function the next day.

The next day, that is 14th September, was the festival day and a colourful community get-together was organized. The Deputy Consul General Mr. Wen Zhencai was the honourable guest to this event. Children and youngsters from the community took part in the game shows and different musical performances to celebrate the occasion. The event was also a platform to awake curiosity in the mind of the youngsters about the culture of their forefathers and to strengthen community feeling among the Chinese living in Kolkata.PS: To see more photographs of the festival please visit my Picasa album.
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My first story on Photojournale

"On the Streets" is the name of my first photo-story published on Photojournale. Its a collection of street photographs from my city: Kolkata. I call it "photo-rambling" on the streets of my city. I invite you all my friends to see the photographs there. Now only thirteen photographs are uploaded on the site but I shall add more later. So keep watching the place.

Please let me know how do you enjoy them through your comments there.

Thanks for viewing!!
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Morning Chinese Market

The morning market at Cheenapara, or the old China town in Central Calcutta, is the nerve centre of social life for the communities living in the neighbourhood. It becomes alive with activities from early in the morning. People flock to the place to collect their daily supply of vegetables, fish and meat. Although it has lost its past glory still a number of food stalls run by the Chinese people can be found here selling Chinese snacks, sweets and other food items.

In the slideshow below I present a glimpse of the daily life in the market premise. I tried to focus on the symbiotic co-existence of the different communities for whom the old China town at Central Kolkata is the home.



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Rathayatra: The chariot festival of India

One of the important festivals of Monsoon season in India is Rathayatra, the chariot festival. The last Friday, that is 4th July this year, was the day for the festival. Although the rituals are observed for the seven consecutive days the first day celebration is the most cheerful and pompous one.




The original seat of the festival is at Puri in the state of Orissa though these days, due to Indian diaspora, it seems one can witness the festival in the most unexpected location of the world. In India, other than Puri, there are some places which are renowned for the festival. For example in Bengal the chariot festival in Mahesh is considered to second that of Puri in spirituality.



In India to drag the chariot for someone is considered an act of showing the highest honour to the person. When Swami Vivekananda returned after propagating the message of Hinduism at the World Parliament of Religion in USA, the students at Kolkata dragged his horse cart to show their heartfelt respect. The main activity in the festival of Rathayatra is also to drag the chariot of the Gods Sri Jagannatha, Sri Balarama and Devi Subhadra by the devotees. Sri Jagannatha is considered to be the God of all gods and the protector of the whole world. It is believed that on this occasion Sri Jagannatha comes down from his divine abode to meet his devotees on the Earth.



Each neighbourhood in Kolkata has its temple of Sri Jagannatha and the community brings out a chariot which they drag through the streets of the locality. People from the nearby houses come out on the street as the chariot reaches their place to show tribute to the God and to offer sweets and fruits to please Him. Some old families in Kolkata also bring out their family chariots to the street. Recently ISKCON is also celebrating the day in Kolkata and it is one of the most colourful and the biggest events here. However it is the children who seem to enjoy most on this occasion. They buy small wooden chariots from the shops, decorate it with flowers and leaves, place small idols of the gods inside it and then drag it through the streets with blowing of palm leaf horns. At the dusk people get back home buying some bengali snacks like papad, jeelabi, etc.



The God is said to be taken to His aunt's house on the chariot as the part of the first day celebration and after the seven days of observing the rituals on the last day the God is again taken back to His place on the same chariot.


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A Summer Afternoon

On a summer afternoon the blazing Sun has cast a dark shadow of one of the entrances of Governor's House at Esplanade, Kolkata. We call it "Raj Bhavan". This was the seat of British imperial power during Raj era. Now it serves as the residence of the Governor of the Indian state of West Bengal. For more information please visit:

rajbhavankolkata.gov.in
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Bhavan_(West_Bengal)

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