Kusti in Kolkata

26 July 2020, Kolkata, India ; Kushti is an indigenous form of Indian wrestling tracing back three thousand years to the time of “malla-yuddha,” with Mughal refinements added in the 16th century. Kolkata is not a center for kushti like some north Indian towns such as Varanasi, Mathura and Allahabad. Yet, an early morning visit to the akharas behind Mullick Ghat on the banks of the Hooghly can be a novel and refreshing experience for a photographer in the “City of Joy.”

Kushti is India's traditional wrestling, and is an ancient form of wrestling. It was held in great importance in Indian societies, but its popularity has dwindled over the years, although there are concerted efforts to revive it. Kushti practitioners face grueling daily training, a strict diet and celibacy.

In Kolkata there only few akhara still alive but the condition of those are not that much good enough. Jawla Tiwatri palowan akhara is one of them. Jawla Tiwari palowan still fighting to save his akhara and dream to make his son as a great pehlwan in India. Meanwhile, after completing his mace exercises,Jawla Tiwari positions it carefully on his way to the akhara, casting his eye on the rest and voicing out instructions about correct posture and exercise technique. “Kushti is all about agility (“lachak”), strength alone is not enough,”. he soil is sourced from the banks of the Ganges and then very carefully treated to sift out stones and pebbles. Ayurvedic oils, turmeric, Multani Mitti , salt and neem are then added. This is done every 2 to 3 months (about 5 times a year). Water is an important ingredient as well to ensure that the soil is soft enough on the bodies but not too soft to limit feet movement. 

This is the best part of a Pehlwan’s life. After the morning’s kushti and workouts are done. This both nourishes and heals the body. It is also a time of friendly banter, catching up and shifting gears to the rest of the day. The akhara clay is considered to be pure with therapeutic properties. Pehlwans worship the pit and continuously douse themselves with clay.

- by Ayan Biswas

Dream Woven

25 July 2020, Santipur, India ; Shantipur and Phulia are the most renowned Bengal handloom sari weaving centers in WestBengal. The Sarees made in Shantipur and Phulia are household names across India.

Santipur city in Nadia district of West Bengal is located approximately 90 kilometres from Kolkata.

The demand for handloom fabric in India as well as in other countries remains significant. But because of competition from power looms and falling incomes, among other factors, skilled weavers across the country have been struggling to survive for years. Many in Santipur too have abandoned their looms and migrated in search of other livelihoods. The Shantipur / Phulia region has over 125,000 handlooms, churning out Shantipuri, Tangail, and Jamdani handloom sarees in a variety of yarns like cotton, tussar and silk.

Products like Dhotis, dress materials, stoles and scarves are also woven in these clusters along with saris.

-  by Ayan Biswas 

Farmers and Agriculture

30 July 2019 , West Bengal ; Indian agriculture is dealing with a precarious situation. On one hand, there exists the problem of reduced rainfall which has been worsened by reduced crop fertility and on another, we are dealing with a pandemic which is a big blow to the farmer. Reduced rainfall and increase in temperature adversely affect the unirrigated areas as compared to irrigated areas.
West Bengal’s agriculture department has estimated that 35 per cent of the monsoon paddy might go waste if not harvested in time, an exercise that has been badly hit with farmers lacking the cash to pay for labour. The estimate is part of an agriculture department report, commissioned to assess the impact of demonetisation on monsoon paddy.

Colourful Wall

25 June 2019 , Kolkata ; Colourful wall is so much more than a set of colours thrown together. It is a form of art, an expression that means different things to different people. While we've come across a lot of these quirky graffiti in metro cities like New Delhi and Mumbai, not many would know that Kolkata, too, has been a beautiful canvas for street artists.

Annakut Utsav

29 October 2019 , Kolkata ; Annakut is celebrated on the fourth day of Diwali. The fourth day of Diwali is also the first day of the new year in the Vikram Samvat calendar. Therefore, the rituals surrounding Annakut are closely linked with the rituals of the five days of Diwali. While the first three days of Diwali are days of prayer to sanctify wealth and invite greater wealth into the devotee's life, the annakut day is a day of offering gratitude for Krishna beneficence.
Govardhan Puja is a principal ritual performed during Annakut. Although some texts treat Govardhan Puja and Annakut as synonymous, the Govardhan Puja is one segment of the day-long Annakut festival.There are many variants of how Govardhan Puja is performed. In one variant of the ritual a god (Lord Krishna) is made out of cow dung in horizontal position. After completing the structure, it is decorated by earthernlamps (deepak or diya), seenkh (a material used for broom chaffs), and candles. After worshipping, the structure of the lord is fed by the bhaktas or worshippers, and the ladies fast. Prayers are also made to Lord Govardhan. As described in the Bhagavata Purana, Govardhan Puja is chiefly identified with Krishna lifting the Govardhan Hill on his finger to protect those who sought his refuge from Indra's torrential rage.

Busy Howrah Bridge

11 July 2019 , Kolkata ; The Howrah Bridge is located between the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The 705m long and 30m wide bridge was built in 1943 over the Hooghly River. It was rechristened as Rabindra Setu in June 1965, after the first Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The bridge is commonly called Howrah Bridge.
Constructed without nuts and bolts, the Howrah Bridge was formed by riveting the entire steel structure. The bridge officially opened in 1943 when it was the world’s third longest cantilever bridge. Today, it is the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.

Village Of Patachitra

16 November 2019, WestBengal ; Naya is a small village in the Pingla block of West Medinipur that has a large concentration of Patachitra painters. This village has been transformed into a craft and cultural hub with the support of government agencies and UNESCO. Here, the Patachitra painters paint stories in a series of frames on long scrolls of cloth with natural colors.
Two hundred and seventy patachitra artists will take part in the fair. At least one person from each family in Naya Pingla has visited USA or Europe and taken part in the exhibitions. The most interesting part of the patachitra artists is that they are Muslims, while the paintings they make are of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Dev Deepawali in Kolkata 2019

13 November 2019 , Kolkata ; During Dev Deepawali, houses are decorated with oil lamps and colored designs on their front doors. Firecrackers are burnt at night, processions of decorated deities are taken out into the streets of Varanasi, and oil lamps are set afloat on the river.
Dev Deepawali is a famous festival which is celebrated in Kolkata on the occasion of kartika poornima. All Hindu family are enlighten diyas and devoted in the holy water of Ganges for their Gods.

Gajan In Westbengal

12 April 2019, Bardhaman ; Gajan festival or Gajan is a folk festival. Observed during the end of the Bengali calendar, this festival is celebrated mainly in the rural parts of Bengal (West Bengal). The most accepted story of Gajan relates to the conversion of the Buddhist monks to Hinduism. It gradually transformed into a festival of Lord Shiva – the God of Gods (as they said, “Deb’er deb – MohaDeb”). In rural Bengal, there are few places known for its Gajan celebrations. One of them is Kurmun in Bardhaman district, while the other is Krishnadebpur. We visited Krishnadebpur from Kalna.
It is almost impossible to determine the actual period when Gajan started. However , according to some historians , there was a time in middle ages when Buddhism was somewhat cornered in India, Buddhists monks took shelter in many places. One of them was in Bengal where they converted to Hinduism. With them came the Tantric rituals of Buddhism which involving Tantra rituals including severe penance as well as the thought of renouncing worldly pursuits to devote one’s self to spiritual work, which is often referred to as monasticism.
This may be the reason that Gajan started as “Dharmer Gajan” and slowly took its way to “Shiber Gajan” in the later period. In Bengal Dharmathakur is generally worshipped by the scheduled cast like Bauri, Bagdi, Hari, Dom. Dharmathakur may have been originated from Dharmaraj of Buddhism. Although Dharmathakur is identified by a shapeless stone (as seen in Bankura) and its Vahana is represented by terracotta horses , there have been instances where Buddha idol has been worshipped as Dharma Thakur in villages of Bankura.There are still villages where both Dharamraj and Shiva are placed with Gajan offerings.

Ganga Puja at Kolkata

12 June 2019 , Kolkata ; The river Ganga is considered holy in the Hindu religion and is treated like a mother. Ganga Dussehra, also known as Gangavataran, which means 'the descent of the Ganga' is being celebrated on June 12 this year. Every year in kolkata, Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on Dashami Tithi or the tenth day of the bright half of the moon in the month of Jyaistha as per the Hindu calendar. Ganga Dussehra is dedicated to Goddess Ganga and is celebrated by performing several rites and rituals of Ganga pooja.

Winter Mist at Varanasi

11 January 2020 , Varanasi; Varanasi in the winters gives you the luxury to explore more, walk more without fatigue and tiredness. Winter is the season of the most glorious sunrise. As the sun comes out from the fog and spreads the reddish texture in the sky and on the Ganges. The view is a feast for the eyes. An early morning boat ride adds a jewel to the crown. Between the period of November to March , varanasi filled with immigrant Serbian seagull.