Belur Math - Kumari Puja (Kolkata)

After much hype from relatives and friends, we decided to visit Belur Math to witness the Kumari puja live on Astami. Had stressful night visiting pandals on Saptami and then directly headed to Belur Math in the early morning at 3.30am. We reached Ramakrishna mission at around 6.30am. btw, Belur Math is the headquarters of Ramakrishna mission founded by Swami Vivekanda in loving memory of his Guru Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. 

The architecture of Belur Math combines the features of a church, a temple and a mosque, to embody the spirit of religious fraternity. For sometime, we sat inside the prayer hall for meditation. The hall with statue of Ramakrishna was so peaceful and relaxing. 

After prayer, we followed the crowd to grab space for Kumari Puja celebrations. 

Pujaris started their mantras for Durga maa....

For the first time, I couldn't control my sleep. Felt bad to sleep in front of the prayers, but it was really hard to keep  my eyes open...I was drifting into sleep's lap without my knowledge. Not just me, people around me were dozing off too. I just got up to take a stroll on the banks of Ganga. The atmosphere was serene and beautiful....

  

I didn't dare to go back and sit again...as I was afraid of falling asleep. When we heard that Kumari Puja will start at 9.30am... we planned to visit Dakshineshwar Kali temple in the meantime. When we came back at 9am, people were just pouring in like crazy, and absolutely no place to sit under the shamiyana. So, we had to stand and struggle to get a glimpse of Kumari.

Pujaris carried Kumari to her seating position and people were just going crazy to see her, and we started suffocating in the crowd. As a mother, I felt sorry for the girl who was draped in a sari, sitting like a doll for hours. Hats off to her parents for letting their girl become part of the show. God bless the little girl!!

Click on the link to see more pictures of the puja from the official site..Durga Puja Photo Gallery of Belur Math : Astami 2011.

Kolkata - Literary Capital of India

Kolkata known as the Literary Capital of India, made us plan a visit to Indian Museum to get a glimpse of literature, art and other exhibits. As per records, Indian Museum is considered to be the largest museum in India and oldest in Asia. So excited, we planned full day to walk in the museum.... unfortunately it was closed for Durga Puja. Just had a glance from outside and then headed to Alipore zoo to make our kids happy.

If museums and libraries have histories wrapped in them, zoo has live presentation of nature to entertain kids. Didn't realise that we finished roaming the zoo in just 3 hours...hot weather was to blame. Most of the ferocious animals were down in dreams and we had three rounds of ice cream. Even crows tried their best to get a sip of ice cream and we tried out best to not leave even a single drop of ice cream :-).

Taking pictures peeking into small cage holes was a challenge...but still managed to get some.

Before heading home, National library outside the zoo called us with its name in visible view. Thought, why not take a look? Again, library was closed for Durga Puja :-(. Lesson learned.....never visit these places during Durga puja. To make our souls happy, took some pictures for the record.

Out of nowhere, felt happy to see the "Ancient Treasures of China" exhibition open at the back of the library. As usual, no photography inside the exhibition, had to settle with outside photography of already photographed pictures. Highlight of the exhibition hall.... full AC in full swing. Didn't feel like coming out of the comfort zone to suffer under the soaring sun :-).

And some random pics taken inside the library premises...

Kolkata - City of Palaces

Cultural capital of India is not just a showcase of Indian culture and tradition, but it embraced Englishmen tastes to give it a different touch altogether. The city earned its name City of Palaces with its tall and elegant palatial mansions, spread out in many places to attract the crowd. And the one that made our must-see list is the famous Victoria Memorial. Unfortunately the doors were closed for Durga Puja and we could only enjoy its outside beauty. No worries...better luck next time...

Next one in our list was St. Paul's Cathedral church. Luckily, Durga Puja had no impact on its opening and the church was filled with people and prayers.

Next beauty was NOT in our list, but our camera couldn't control eating its image while driving. Just finding the name of this structure took me 10 minutes, and now I proudly present its name Right-away & Paid-for aka Whiteaway, LaidLaw & co :-)

At last, my long time wish to visit Mother's house fulfilled at Missionaries of Charities. We were greeted by two mothers at the entrance and the place felt like a temple. We peeked into Mother's small room upstairs, all it had was a small bed, world map, desk, crown of thorns and folders to sort out things for the day. It's heart touching to see Mother's small room above the kitchen. Though its location makes it the hottest room, Mother insisted no fan or AC be installed. Indeed it's a PALACE OF LOVE. 

Our respectful obeisances to Mother Teresa and her great work.