Do you want to walk through Bahubali’s overawing Mahishmati palace in north Kolkata, over five stories high? It has been made so wonderfully, costing over Rs 10 crore, that the super-hit film’s creator S.S. Chandramouli is truly bowled over. Or perhaps you want to shake hands with Mowgli and his Jungle Book friends Babloo, Baghera and others in an honest-to-goodness ‘forest’ within the metropolis of Kolkata, where one can see that hissing snake Kaa and the killer Sher Khan from a safe distance? Or, maybe, enter Ajanta Caves or even pose before the Eiffel Tower and Buckingham Palace? This is neither a con game nor a walk through some film studio with look-alike sets; they are as real as possible.
Lakhs of people have started pouring into dozens of such sites all over the city, admiring and touching the life-size statues that adorn Bahubali’s prized palace. Oh, we forgot to mention that it also houses Kolkata’s Sreebhumi Sporting Club’s Durga image, ready for worship. The Machua Bazaar Durga Puja Committee is similarly busy with their Jungle Book forest, where thousands of kids have started arriving to play – and of course to see the Durga Puja there. As is evident, Kolkata has gone crazy again, which it does each year during Bengal’s Durga Puja season that celebrates the last four days of Navaratri. The entire mega-city of Kolkata metamorphoses into something that is a cross between an indigenous Disneyland and a spirited Latin American fiesta, as billions of tiny multi-coloured lights transform a struggling city into a dreamland.
Creating art for worship
It is great fun for those who want to walk for several hours of puja-hopping, in very high spirits, and actually be a part of one of the largest congregations of people. They do not mind the occasional pushing and shoving, as goggle-eyed visitors break into raptures at each pandal. This is what the temporary architecture of cloth, plywood and improvised materials that stand on wooden poles and bamboo rods are called. They are far removed from the humble and unimaginative shamianas that the rest of India puts up during their celebrations or big events.
One may, of course, traverse short distances by cars, buses, trams or the metro rail service, but then one has still to walk a bit to get close enough to savour the magnificence and innovations of each pandal and the ambience of the surroundings. For those who are short on the fitness quotient or are not fully equipped with the crazy bug that converts itself into a special enthusiasm that is essential for the millions who trudge from venue to venue, the television is the best option. One can see it all in the cool comfort of one’s own home, though frankly it is not like being in Eden Gardens or at Lords, because one does get a bit of a second-hand view of what is nothing short of the most spontaneous explosion of popular art that grips this huge metropolis.