A lazy but productive morning planning our adventure. We put plans in place for our trip through India and beyond.
Lunch was taken at our local food stall. Once again it didn't disappoint. Well it did a little as they had ran out of rice!
We took the metro a little further to the north today searching for a few of the recommended Pandals to visit. Most of the streets are closed to traffic and there are police all over the city directing the crowds. A lot of bamboo barriers have been built to make areas one way for pedestrian traffic! A lot of the larger Pandals have huge queues. In fact it seems the whole of Kolkata is one huge stream of people, all dressed up in their Sunday best. One man spoke to us about how the number of people visiting the Pandals in Kolkata must be like the number of people at a Rik Astley concert in England. We smiled and politely agreed. Of course we personally couldn't compare the chaos in Kolkata to a Rik Astley concert because we haven't been to one. Anyone else been?
We walked a long way across the northern part of the city. We discovered some interesting Pandals and got to view some of the shops that make the deities. Durga Puja is followed by another festival and the shops were creating many new models. Some were in their raw clay state, others had exquisite details painted on and some were having clothes prepared for them. It was great to see the progression from lump of clay and straw to stunning figure.
A lot of the bigger Pandals in the parks have fairgrounds and lots of food stalls to tempt you. We were however not tempted to take any fairground rides, as some of the ones we saw were held together with string!
It is hard to take photographs as most of the Pandals are viewed at night. It is also tricky because everyone else is there too. Most
of the people are taking selfies with any part of the Pandals they can get to themselves.
Getting the metro was a little quieter today as we left for our hotel slightly earlier.
Lunch was taken at our local food stall. Once again it didn't disappoint. Well it did a little as they had ran out of rice!
We took the metro a little further to the north today searching for a few of the recommended Pandals to visit. Most of the streets are closed to traffic and there are police all over the city directing the crowds. A lot of bamboo barriers have been built to make areas one way for pedestrian traffic! A lot of the larger Pandals have huge queues. In fact it seems the whole of Kolkata is one huge stream of people, all dressed up in their Sunday best. One man spoke to us about how the number of people visiting the Pandals in Kolkata must be like the number of people at a Rik Astley concert in England. We smiled and politely agreed. Of course we personally couldn't compare the chaos in Kolkata to a Rik Astley concert because we haven't been to one. Anyone else been?
We walked a long way across the northern part of the city. We discovered some interesting Pandals and got to view some of the shops that make the deities. Durga Puja is followed by another festival and the shops were creating many new models. Some were in their raw clay state, others had exquisite details painted on and some were having clothes prepared for them. It was great to see the progression from lump of clay and straw to stunning figure.
A lot of the bigger Pandals in the parks have fairgrounds and lots of food stalls to tempt you. We were however not tempted to take any fairground rides, as some of the ones we saw were held together with string!
It is hard to take photographs as most of the Pandals are viewed at night. It is also tricky because everyone else is there too. Most
of the people are taking selfies with any part of the Pandals they can get to themselves.
Getting the metro was a little quieter today as we left for our hotel slightly earlier.