1. Rain Fails to Dampen Durga Puja Spirit in Kolkata
An overcast sky and few spells of rain failed to dampen the Durga Puja spirit of revellers in Kolkata on Maha Ashtami on Thursday.
Huge crowds visited puja pandals across the city even as it started drizzling in the afternoon around 3pm, and it hardly stopped people from pandal hopping.
Interestingly, rains also could not affect the slow-moving traffic of the city, all thanks to Kolkata police.
Source: The Times of India
2. Voluntary Labour Call in Hills
The Darjeeling district administration is seeking voluntary labour from hill residents to help rebuild government properties damaged during the Gorkhaland agitation.
This is the first time in recent memory that the administration has asked for voluntary labour from the residents to restore properties. Earlier, some tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills had adopted such a mode to rebuild estate factories razed by fire.
The labour contributors were largely unpaid and utilised for a specific number of days.
Source: The Telegraph
3. Shower Spoiler Alert For Navami
Ashtami was everything that a usual Puja reveller hates: nagging rain with spells of intense showers.
Slightly heavier spells of rain are expected on Friday, Navami, both during the day and at night, the Met office has said.
Two cyclonic circulations, one over the northeast Bay of Bengal and the other along the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coast, are responsible for the rain, a Met official said.
Source: The Telegraph
4. 100-Year Harmony Lesson in Ashtami Bhog: Fish for Offering Comes From Pond Owned By Muslim Family
The fish that is part of the ceremonial food offering on Ashtami at a famous Hindu shrine in Murshidabad has to come from the pond of a particular Muslim household, according to a century-old tradition.
The fish is served as part of the bhog on Ashtami at Kiriteswari temple in Nabagram, one of the 51 Sati peeths across the country.
Although old-timers could not pinpoint the year when the tradition started, they said they had heard from their grandfathers about the custom.
Source: The Telegraph
5. This Year, Kolkata Sex Workers Have Their Own Durga Idol, Pandal
Five years after sex workers of Kolkata's Sonagachi organised their first Durga Puja, it's been a grand celebration this time. A large pandal has been erected and they have collected about Rs 4 lakh to celebrate the only puja for sex workers in Kolkata.
In October 2013, after years of struggle, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Samiti (DMSS), a sex workers’ collective, got permission from the Calcutta High Court to organise Durga Puja in the forbidden streets of Sonagachi, considered Asia’s largest red light area. The festivities were restricted to a small community hall and the programme wrapped up in Rs 2 lakh.
In the following years, the women desired full-scale puja celebrations, just as the rest of the city, replete with their own pandal and Durga pratima (idol), but the court didn't allow. The disappointed devotees discontinued the event in 2016.
However, this year, the court ruled in their favour. "We are going for a full-fledged marquee as well as idol," Kajol Bose, secretary, told IANS.
Source: NDTV
6. Teen Dies Trying to Fix Pandal Fan
A 15-year-old boy who was among the organisers of a puja in Nadia's Bhimpur was electrocuted today when he tried to restart a faulty pedestal fan by putting his fingers on the blades.
Kingshuk Biswas was the only son of Karunamoy Biswas, who owns a bookshop at Bhimpur School Para market located near the school where his son studied. The Class IX student was also a member of the Bhimpur School Para Community Puja Committee.
Police said the incident occurred around 9.30 in the morning, a little after anjali (floral offering) for Ashtami had begun.
Source: The Telegraph
7. Discount on Second Trip to Forest Resorts
Tourists who have stayed in West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC) properties between 26 September and 22 October will get a discount of 25 percent on room rent if they make a second trip before 31 March.
Trinamul leader Udayan Guha, the WBFDC chairman, said today: “To attract tourists to our properties across the state in the heart of nature, particularly in north Bengal, we have decided that those who are staying at these places between 26 September and 22 October will be entitled to a discount of 25 percent on accommodation charges during their next trip, provided it is before 31 March.”
A WBFDC source said the decision was taken to offset the losses suffered during the Puja tourist season because of the 104-day statehood strike in the Darjeeling hills. The forest bungalows and resorts in the hills are a top draw.
Source: The Telegraph
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