Makhar Sankrati - Kolkata Jan 2007

Rollins

Hi all
I am heading to India for a couple of weeks in Jan. I have read about a couple of festivals which appear to start on the same day, Makhar Sankrati or 14th Jan. There is the Ganga Puja at the mouth of the Hooghly (Sargardwip, 15o km south)and the Jaidev Mela at Kanduli nr Bolpur some 100 or so Km north of Kolkata. It says in an old Rough Guide and on one website I found that pilgrims move from one mela to the other. But if they are really on at the same time?? I do wonder if the website I saw got their info from the old Rough Guide. The latest Rough Guide mentions the Melas but not the migration. The only date info I can find is as stated above, both melas start on Makhar Sankrati. Confused? Join the club. If anyone out there has definite info on this I would love to hear from you.
Thanks
Phil Wingfield

__________________
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

tintin8801

yes phil, there are a lot of activities that hover around that date: makar sankranti, which is usually on 14th jan but sometimes on 15th of jan calculated according to astronomical positions!
on that day pilgrims/sadhus/ visitors go for the holy dip at the ganges near sagar island during sunrise( around 3 hrs by car from kolkata).
there is also the festival at kenduli, which is mainly the festival of and by the sadhus and bauls.....that start from that day and go fr a week!, so u can finish ur holy dip at sagar and then go to the kenduli(joidev mela)!(birbhum)
there is the kite flying festival on the same day at burdwan, 100 km away from kolkata(2 hrs drive/2 hrs by train), kenduli is again around 70 km away from burdwan......(burdwan is in between kenduli and kolkata)
welcome to kolkata

Rollins

That's fantastic, thank you very much.
Phil