A one-day Durga Puja Carnival is set to take place at Kolkata’s Red Road on Friday, October 27th. The event is being organised by the West Bengal Tourism Department and, according to reports, will be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Bannerjee.
For the big event, close to 100 puja committees from across the state will exhibit their Durga idols accompanied by song and dance performances. Consul Generals from 14 countries or their representatives will also be present for the show. The countries include Germany, Britain, France, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan, Russia, Japan, Italy, Thailand, USA, Myanmar and Nepal.
According to the Tourism Department, this event aims to attract more foreign tourists and dignitaries. Each committee will have three minutes to showcase their performances at the carnival. This event was started by the government in 2016 and has been taking place every year, except for 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.
This year, the Durga Puja carnival will commence with a cultural dance performance by the Dona Ganguly group, spearheaded by cricketer Sourav Ganguly’s wife, Dona, who may also take part in the dance programme. According to officials, a seating arrangement for 18,000 people has been made at the venue.
The carnival will begin at 4 pm and go on till 10 pm, so Red Road will be shut for traffic from October 27th until midnight of October 28th. The police have issued an advisory as traffic on several roads around Red Road, including AJC Bose Road, Hastings Crossing, Lovers Lane, New Road, Dufferin Road and Hare Street, will be restricted.
The Red Road can be accessed through AJC Bose Road, Mayo Road, and Jawaharlal Nehru Road. People taking the Metro will have to get down at Dharmatala and Park Street to reach Red Road through designated roads. Parking on Cathedral Road will be closed.
Durga Puja, West Bengal’s biggest festival among the Bengali community, is celebrated every year with much grandeur. It also received a heritage tag from the United Nations. Durga Puja in Kolkata is now on the ‘Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ list.