Durga Puja, Kolkata. 2018
Sadly my workload writing portfolio reviews had a surge right when Durga Puja hit Kolkata; the largest holiday of the year. Visitors from all over India go pandal-hopping; traversing the city to view elaborate idol installations (of which there are hundreds). Some are small community pandals, while others are expansive and themed, costing an immense amount of time and money to display for only a few, short days.
Since I was working away on my computer, I only got to visit a couple of my neighborhood pandals, spend an afternoon with family and make one outing north, to the oldest part of the city. This was the final day before immersion ceremonies began taking place (signifying the return of Durga to her spiritual realm until the following year). Even though festivities were beginning to slow down and I avoided peak times, there was still a lot of texture (and food) to take in.
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