durga puja

the idols built painstakingly finally make their appearance before a big crowd in delhi's chittaranjan park on the day durga puja starts. everywhere in this colony where people from west bengal mostly live one can feel a massive sense of excitement. people scurry from one pandaal to another to see the idols of goddess durga; the stalls sell exciting titbits from food to cellphones; there are games for children, and most importantly, fish cutlets. buying clothes and feasting are the two highlights. 

bhog, the food given to the gods. 

open till october 25, 2012

images treated with cross-processing option-2 in lightroom-3

and you will know my name is the lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee

it is said, when a college boy came out of new delhi railway station to hire a cab, the driver asked him on which train he had come. the boy said kolkata rajdhani. the driver took his luggage and drove him to chittaranjan park without the boy telling him where to go.

chittaranjan park is a neighbourhood in south delhi, and home to a large bengali community in delhi. it was established in the early 1960s under the name epdp colony or east pakistan displaced persons colony, and was renamed after deshbandhu chittaranjan das, in 1980s. today despite its growing cosmopolitan demographics, it remains home to a flourishing bengali community, and hub to kolkata-style street food stalls, offering bengali cuisine, fish markets, temples and cultural centres, so says wikipedia.

these idols of goddess durga are prepared in cr park for sale to puja committees across delhi for the big day -- durga puja.  

those who toil at night sleep by the day.

durga puja marks the victory of goddess durga over the evil buffalo demon mahishasura. the festival means the victory of good over evil. the goddess comes down to earth once a year to clean this place.

there is no place for evil.

journey basket wishes everyone a very happy durga puja