| Fairs in Kolkata | Festivals in Kolkata |
Calcutta book fair
The Mecca of publishers, book lovers and students, the Book Fair held in early
February is a place that every family in Calcutta makes a beeline for. The
fair showcases the best of not just Indian publishers, but also bookseller,
writers and bibliophiles from all corners of the globe. Great discounts are
offered on a mind-boggling array of titles as visitors to the fair wend their
way in and out of the colorful stalls, stopping every now and then to grab a
bite, get their portraits painted or just listen to the music filtering
through the fair grounds.
Handloom Expo
Every alternate year, the Maidan in Kolkata plays host to the Handloom
Expo. The fair started way back in 1982. For 21 days, people from the city as
well as tourists in Calcutta shop for everything from bed linen to clothes at
affordable prices.
Industrial India Trade Fair
Held at the Maidan, the Industrial Trade Fair sees the participation of
industrial players not just from West Bengal, but also from Nepal, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Apart from core sector participants, the fair
showcases the products and technology of the participating countries and is a
wonderful opportunity for some business deals and networking.
Travel and Tourism Fair
Held in August, the Travel and Tourism Fair moves away from the much-favored Maidan to the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Discounts on booking, trade and travel deals, holiday packages, business deals in the industry - all these are more can be picked up under the same roof at this congregation of the big and small players of the trade and travel industry.
Vidyasagar Mela
Dedicated to the Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the Vidyasagar Mela is an
attempt to bring alive the ideals of the scholar. In honor of his commitment
to social reform, the fair spreads the message of education and social
welfare. It also showcases the folk culture of the state. Health camps and
seminars are also a patent feature of this fair.
Lexpo
Held in December-January, Lexpo is a fair that showcases the products and
technology of the leather industry. It's a fair for not just big players, but
also for small scale industry participants to exhibit their ware.
Poush Mela
This three-day fair celebrates the founding day of Rabindranath Tagore's
Shantiniketan. Held in late December, the fair is marked by prayers, cultural
fests, crafts bazaars and folk performances. Poush Mela is a good occasion to
explore the cultural facets of Shantiniketan, and attracts a large number of
tourists. The last day of the fair is marked by prayers for the deceased who
were associated with Shantiniketan.
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When's a bamboo tent not a bamboo tent? When you're in Calcutta. For, in this
city, a step into a luxurious bamboo edifice known locally as a pandal could
well be your baptism to the festive side of the city. Pandals, in which the
idols of deities are places and worshippers congregate, are a staple of Hindu
festivals Kolkata, but the festive landscape of Calcutta isn't about which
religion you belong to. Festivals are a great opportunity to meet people, soak
in the culture of the city, pamper your taste buds, discover the cosmopolitan
side to the city and, of course, give yourself up to religious fervor.
Rathyatra
Travel along with the Lord of Puri, Jagannath, as his chariot takes him to his midsummer vacation. Legend has it that Jagannath, a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, goes on this vacation with his brother Balaram and sister Subhadra. Religious fervor runs high and the streets of Calcutta turn into a mélange of colors. Devotees take turns to pull gigantic chariots bearing idols of the three divinities through the narrow bylanes of the city.
Do check out the Rathyatra in Mahesh in the nearby Hooghly district - it's the oldest in the state. The Mahesh Rathyatra of 1875 is also special as it provided the inspiration for Radharani, a famous novel by Bengali poet and author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
Saraswati Puja
If you wake up to streets dotted with young girls in yellow saris, don't
get an eye test. Just throw on your best Indian wear and hurry down to the
roads for the festivities of Saraswati Puja. Dedicated to Saraswati, the
goddess of learning, science, and the creative arts, this festival is all the
way for students. The youngest girl in every Bengali family is decked in
yellow on this day, and students flock to the pandals to pray for their
academic success.
Shivratri
For an all-night festive experience, catch the celebration of the "Night of Shiva". Devotees meditate, pray, sing and recite hymns in praise of Lord Shiva and offer milk, curd, honey and glossy green leaves of the bel tree in worship. Celebrated in February-March, the festival is also a time for the devotees to observe fasts. The Shivratri celebrations in Tarakeshwar, in the neighboring Hooghly, are special and worth a visit.
Poila Baisakh
The first month of the Bengali calendar, Baishakh, marks the beginning of
the crop cycle in Bengal. A lot of Bengali weddings are held in this month,
and new businesses started. The first day of this month is called Poila
Baisakh is celebrated as the Bengali new year. Chances are, if you step into a
shop in Calcutta on this day, you'll be offered sweets and maybe the odd gift
or two. Traders start the new year by inaugurating new accounting books.
Id-ul-Fitr
Id-ul-Fitr marks the end of the holy Islamic month of Ramzan. Take a walk down the path alongside the Maidan on this day and watch the young, middle-aged and old alike gathering here for their prayers, harkening to the call of the muezzin from the Shahid Minar.
Muharram
The solemnity of Muharram is best experienced by following an "Ashoura" procession in the city. Led by a snow-white horse, the procession of tazias and the devout wends its way through areas such as Metiabruz and Khiderpore.
Kali Puja
A festival to propitiate the dark goddess Kali, Kali Puja is held in the
dark of a new moon night. With her blue-black skin, blood-smeared face,
terrifying third eye, Kali wears little other than necklaces of snakes and
skulls. In her four hands, she bears weapons and blessings for her followers.
This is one festival that is seldom performed within a home, and is often
marked by animal sacrifices.
Makar Sankranti
A festival that marks the winter solstice, the Makar Sankranti festival is marked by two melas or fairs, both held a little distance from Calcutta. The maidan in Kolkata, however, plays host to the hordes of faithfuls thronging to the three-day Ganga Sagar Mela held on Sagardwip to commemorate this festival. Even as the Ganga Sagar Mela winds down, bauls - a cult of minstrels - wend their way to nearby Bolpur for the Baul mela.
Lakshmi Puja
Durga Puja is closely followed by Lakshmi Puja - the festival honoring the goddess of wealth, peace and prosperity. Every home celebrates this festival as a chance to welcome the goddess of wealth to their homes. A day or two before the festival, the bazaars of Kolkata are choc-a-bloc with vendors selling idols of the gracious Lakshmi, seated on a lotus.
Durga Puja
For
four days in September-October, Calcutta comes to a standstill as almost
everyone in the city throngs its streets, visiting the pandals dressed in
their festive best and fêting their taste buds with food from the stalls that
spring up on the roadsides. Incense, drumbeats, chants, laughter, the sizzle
and smell of food characterize this festival dedicated to Goddess Durga. Durga
Puja is a chance to meet old friends, rub shoulders with the young and
eligible, buy new clothes, walk the streets of the city till the wee hours of
the morning, and, of course, admire the oeuvre of idol makers who craft
beautiful idols of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik out of bamboo,
straw, jute, clay and paint.
Joydev Mela
Strictly speaking, the Joydev Mela is held at Kenduli, a small village near
Tagore's Shantiniketan, and not in Calcutta. However, this fair-cum-festival
held in the early half of January and commemorating the birth of the Bhakti
cult poet Jaydev is a wonderful way to connect with rural India. For three
days, Baul minstrels, spiritual shoppers and city slickers seeking a high
flock to this festival and lose themselves to the trance-like magic of baul
songs.
Bhai Phota
This is the day brothers and sisters put aside their family squabbles and celebrate their familial ties. Women maintain a fast through the morning and break it by applying a dab of sandalwood to their brothers' foreheads, praying for their safety and welfare and plying them with sweets. In turn they receive gifts from their brothers. Do wangle an invite to a Bengali house on this day if you can - it's a day when the kitchen turns out some of its best fare of the year!
Dol Purnima
A festival of spring, Dol Purnima is marked by people merrymaking on the streets, smearing each other with color, drinking milk laces with marijuana (locally called bhang) and ambushing unsuspecting passers-by with water balloons. Some of the celebrations can get pretty rowdy and some of the colors can get pretty artificial, so stay in your room if your skin's sensitive.
Vishwakarma Puja
If you're in Calcutta in September, and know someone in a factory, a
workman or an artisan, spend the early morning of this festive day in their
company. Dedicated to the God of Creation, Vishwakarma, the true spirit of the
festival is seen in the homes of craftsmen and in industrial houses. Machines
are oiled, cleaned and painted, and tools scrubbed and polished till they
reflect the idol of the god, holding a hammer in his hand.
Christmas
For the best picture-postcard feel during Christmas, take a stroll down
Park Street on Christmas Eve. Midnight mass at St Paul's Cathedral is a
different experience altogether, as the entire cathedral is lit up by candles.
If you're in the vicinity of the shopping are called New Market, also drop by
at the celebrated Nahoum's for the best bakes and cakes of the season.
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