Durga Puja in Kolkata

chAos

Yeah, I don't even know why I'm asking and rethinking; I wanna go during DP. Yay, one piece of my puzzle is set!
Would it be worth it to stay after? Does the city get back to itself pretty quickly, or does it take a little while to recover?
I know I'll ask more as time gets closer, but does anybody perchance have anything they feel the need to recommend now, while it's on their mind? Where to stay, eat, whatever...?

jyotirmoy

Yes Kolkatans do recover to get ready for Lakhshmi puja and again recover to get ready for Kali puja when the most fantastic illuminated decorations come up..........

brishti

chaos -

as jyotida said - durga pooja is just the beginning of a series of pooja's which follow.
calcutta usually gets back to normalcy, a week after kali pooja.
as i said before - come specifically for durga pooja - heck you can do the city otherwise sometime later!
durga pooja comes but just once in a year



:brishti

jyotirmoy

A week after Kali Puja X-Mas is on the horizon, after that Nabanna & Pithe Parbon, Saraswati Puja to be followed by Dol, then Poila Baisakh........

brishti

one BIG continuous holiday season aint it dada???


:brishti

jyotirmoy

Yes bhai Brishti and the rulling comrades fill up the gaps by calling bandhs !!!!

chAos

Jyotirmoy, (Do I get to call you Jyotida, too?) I know you've got some favorite place to eat that you're going to tell me about!

jyotirmoy

Yes of course you can call me Jyotida.
There is a sticky on places to eat in Kolkata, have you read that?

chAos

umm, no.
Thanks for telling me.
It's still some time before we'll go, so haven't looked into that much detail yet. I only brought it up because in some other posts you seemed hungry & thought I'd try to capitalize on that.

jyotirmoy

Amer khaoa dharma
Khaoa karma
Khaoaee parama tapah
Udor e protistha pratima
Priyonte sarbajana

chAos

Just saw the sticky; looks like puh-lenty of options. Now the dilemma: how to choose?? Thank you again.

(.... may I ask for a translation?)

proxyindian

John was just reading to me from Footprint India guide and it says that during Durga Puja that all the offices and institutions is closed. Sure, I'm smart enough to know what an office is, but what do they mean by "institution"? Is that banks, museums, post offices? Does it extend to stores? Does it mean that all the emporiums are closed? And is everything closed down for the entire four/five days or just the last? Please forgive my - as usual - naive questions. Thanks.

somnath

Educational Institutes… schools, colleges and other technical education centers etc, Banks for couple of days. But not Emporiums / stores.

but stay away from Jyoti da’s stickythread….. it is addictive.

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stake501

can i get clothes made during puja time. or are the tailors on hoiay too?

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rahulcal

Some more basic stuff:

The +ves

a. The entire city is awake all nite - almost a city wide carnival.

b. The glitter , the Pandals ( Stalls is the closes translation I can think of ) are amazing

c. Goes on for 9 days - so you can cover almost evry aspect if you are really interested

d. Probably the best time to see the city

The -ves

a. The heat

b. The crowds

c. The noise

d. Imagine hotels also must be expensive then