Durga Puja 2014 - Pandal hopping on Panchami midnight

Sweetest face of the Goddess I came across on Panchami at Alamganj puja pandal!

Yes, now a days smart cum fast-evolving Bengalis start their Durga Puja pandal-hopping right from Panchami. Previously it was a trend in Kolkata and this time I found its spread in my city Bardhaman too! Puja organizers were liberal enough to inaugurate their pandals and open them for visitors right from the evening of auspicious Panchami. I prefer visiting Puja pandals either in daytime when there's no "kilometer long" queue or midnight, by the time other people conclude their celebration for the day. If you haven't experienced Durga Puja in West Bengal you'll probably find my timings bit awkward. May be in the next post I'll publish a photo to show you, how dense the crowd actually is in the prime hours of evening. After midnight as the number of visitors lessens in puja pandals, photographic opportunities do increase. So, due to these various conveniences I have my own sweet hours for pandal hopping.

These are not smoke engulfing the Goddess, but synthetic cotton, a component of wall decoration

Last night I managed to visit only four famous Puja pandals of Bardhaman, two located in the proper city and the other two were from Barsul, a panchayat area not far away from the city. People debate whether theme Puja has killed the essence of traditional Durga Puja... I care least as long as the pandal decoration is not too harsh for my eyes and the Puja committee doesn't put a "No Photography" board. Among four places I visited, the Idol of Alamganj Durgotsav committee turned out to be most beautiful, idol of Barsul Young Men's Association was most unique and the idol of Barsul Jagarani  Durga Puja Committee was certainly the most photogenic one! Durga Puja in Bengal is not just about the idol, it is about the whole ambiance that's artificially created by artists, called theme. Theme-wise also, both the pandals at Barsul were way ahead of whatever little I saw of Bardhaman. Sarbamilan Sangha took "Amarnath yatra" as their pandal theme and despite their lot of expenditure things didn't quite click well for them. Anyway, be a part of my Panchami midnight pandal hopping. I'll be back with other awesome puja pandals of my city in the next photo post.

Doesn't this white elephant look awesome? This is the pandal of Barsul Young Men's Association!

Entirely ornamented with jute and synthetic cotton, the same committee as mentioned above.

Note the neat bamboo work used in the pandal of Barsul Jagarani Durga Puja Committee.

The idol of Barsul Jagarani Durga Puja Committee- what a marvelous piece of art!

Globular pandal of Alamganj Durgotsov Committee, illuminated red with multiple red LEDs.

Inside view of the Alamganj pandal. There was abundance of design with cotton balls!

"Amarnath Darshan" as portrayed by the massive pandal of Sarbamilan Sangha.

Many pandals are beautified with gorgeous chandeliers!