India - Kolkata - Part I

We arrived in Kolkata at night. I was a bit apprehensive about finding our way, not getting ripped off, etc... While one man said the taxi would be 800 rupees, about $20, another told us where to get a local bus, and which stop we should get off on to catch the subway. While on the bus another man with a five year old son said he'd show us the subway entrance and get us on our way. Thus we arrived with a mix of deception and kindness, par for the course for India I think.

First day we walked around and found a park. Those are goats beneath the trees. I couldn't tell if it was clouds above or smog... most likely both.

While sitting in the shade at the edge of the park we were surrounded by the children below. They just stood there in a semi-circle staring. Later we met up with three of them.

The aforementioned goats.

We ended up running into three of the boys from before and they took us to Victoria Memorial Hall, where we were going anyway.

Of the three Poly was the smallest and youngest. He was also acting as a body guard for Jacqueline.

We didn't know that it was the time of the Durga Puja when we booked our flights but is was... and it was great. The way to the Puja's were lit with lights like the one below.

If Kolkata traffic had a soundtrack it would be a cacophony of a multitude of horns, cars, buses and bikes. The use of the horn here is so prevalent that it removes all meaning it might be able to convey.

The Puja's are a huge affair here. The best Puja is in Kolkata and it is the largest festival for the Bengali people. Each one is built from a money collected by the community surrounding it and is made by a different artist depicting a slightly different concept. This was one of the biggest.

You walked beneath it to view the pandal (the sculpture) which is offset from an atrium. All the rooms had a chandelier... some more grand than others.

This is the pandal. There are a number of Gods and one demon which is being slain by the center god. That's the coles notes of a coles notes on the festival.