UNESCO Heritage status for Durga Puja of Kolkata:
UNESCO Heritage status for Durga Puja of Kolkata:
UNESCO has inscribed Durga Puja in Kolkata on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
India’s apex cultural body, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, had nominated Kolkata’s iconic Durga Puja celebrations to be included in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), stating “Durga Puja is the best instance of the public performance of religion and art in the city. It witnesses a celebration of craftsmanship, cross-cultural transactions and cross-community revelry. Its dynamism lies in it being a constantly mutating event – in its fusion of tradition with changing tastes and popular cultures, and in the adaptation of the iconographies of Durga and the styles of her temporary abodes to cater to new regimes of art production.”
UNESCO has inscribed Durga Puja in Kolkata on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
India’s apex cultural body, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, had nominated Kolkata’s iconic Durga Puja celebrations to be included in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), stating “Durga Puja is the best instance of the public performance of religion and art in the city. It witnesses a celebration of craftsmanship, cross-cultural transactions and cross-community revelry. Its dynamism lies in it being a constantly mutating event – in its fusion of tradition with changing tastes and popular cultures, and in the adaptation of the iconographies of Durga and the styles of her temporary abodes to cater to new regimes of art production.”
Durga Puja in Kolkata
To be in Kolkata / Calcutta during the he "Durga Puja" festival is an amazing experience and a photographer’s delight. This festival is not merely an expression of faith, it is a spectacular celebration of artistic excellence and social harmony.
Vir Sanghvi, Editor Hindustan Times, once wrote a lovely article titled – “What 'Pujo' means to a Bengali”. I quote two lines from the same “It is nothing like Christmas; and certainly nothing like Diwali in North India. Nothing, in fact, can prepare you for the magic of Puja in Calcutta. To understand what it means, you have to be here.”
Background:
The festival involves the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga (= wife of Shiva) when she revisits earth for 4 days each year in October with her 4 children: Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), Saraswati (godess of knowledge), Kartikeya (god of war), and Ganesha (the elephant-headed deity of wealth and success).
After four days of celebrations, on the 5th and final day of the festival, when its time to bid adieu and the goddess must return to her marital home in Kailash in the Himalays, sadness consumes the city. On this day, the idol is taken around in a procession with great pomp and grandeur before being taken to the Ganges for the immersion.
The art:
After four days of celebrations, on the 5th and final day of the festival, when its time to bid adieu and the goddess must return to her marital home in Kailash in the Himalays, sadness consumes the city. On this day, the idol is taken around in a procession with great pomp and grandeur before being taken to the Ganges for the immersion.
The art:
Spectacular idols are made from bamboo, straw and clay; they are displayed/worshipped in private homes and in ‘pandals’ (canopies) that present an artistic and decorative spectacle which turn the festival into the biggest outdoor art festival on earth.
Artists are known to create close to 4,000 sets of Durga idols every year, some of which are shipped abroad. All this calls for a lot of work — work that demands intricacy and, very often, creativity.
When and duration : This year the festival is scheduled from 1st – 5th October.2022
Artists are known to create close to 4,000 sets of Durga idols every year, some of which are shipped abroad. All this calls for a lot of work — work that demands intricacy and, very often, creativity.
When and duration : This year the festival is scheduled from 1st – 5th October.2022
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