Here we come a-pandel-ing....

So I'm not sure if that's a verb or not, but it's definitely what we did last night. This week is the Durga Puja festival. It's all about the goddess Kali and how she defeats the guy who is trying to kill her (I think). Anyway. For those of you who are asking, what is a pandel, anyway, let me explain. About a month ago, these bamboo structures began to go up all over the city. When we asked what they were, we were told that they are pandels- almost like mini-temples where they display the gods (or in this case goddess) and do their puja and offerings and such. They are all decorated and lit differently, and a lot of money and effort goes into them.

You can still see the bamboo frame in these shots.

(Which is why it's a little odd that at the end of the week, they take the beautiful idols down and throw them in the river, but hey-) So they build these pandels, and all this week everyone gets dressed up to the nines and walks around town to go visit the different pandels. It's a pretty big deal- there's a contest and prizes for the best pandel. (It's sort of like, if at Christmas, every church in the whole neighborhood put on their own nativity scene, and then the week before Christmas everyone got all dolled up to walk around and see the different nativity scenes, and someone would win best nativity, and then we'd throw everything into the river. Or something. That's the closest analogy I can come up with. )

So last night, we (we being 6 girls that are all staying at the same guesthouse) decided to get into the Puja thing. Sophie knew these two Indian guys who have a shop in New Market who offered to take us around and show us some of the sights. They were great- really nice, friendly, and spoke perfect English. Sanjay was a perfect tour guide- made sure everyone stayed together, no one got lost, etc. So we started out near New Market and joined the throngs of people out seeing the pandels.

There are lights and people everywhere. They actually have small stages set up near each pandel, where they have bands and live music while people wait in line to get inside. It's a very festive atmosphere- we were told no one sleeps this week, and judging from the noise levels and the number of people out and about, I'd say that's pretty true!

So we walked around and visited probably about 10 or 12 different pandels. We walked for several hours, but it didn't feel long at all. There are pandels all over the city, so there is so much to see! Each one is set up a bit differently. The outsides have been decorated with various mediums (like poppy seeds or pen caps!), some facades modeled after famous builings.

The inside, while revolving around the same theme, differs in medium as well, but the main difference is the lighting and wall decorations. Each pandel displays 5 figures, the goddess Kali, Ganesh (with the elephant head), two other goddesses, and the villain who got his due trying to kill Kali. (Bet you can't tell which one that is...)

One of the wall murals

Lotus flowers as an offering

Some of the chandeliers inside the pandels..

So we wandered around for quite a while, and then there was this really big, fancy pandel that was right next to... a carnival?!?!? Yes, a carnival. With all the silly games, chintzy prizes and rides you would find at any carnival worth its salt. The only thing it was missing was funnel cake... (because we all know that a carnival isn't quite complete without funnel cake.) There was, however, cotton candy and popcorn. It was rather surreal, because a carnival was the last thing I expected, but apparently it's a big draw for Puja-ers. We rode on the wildly unsafe Ferris wheel, which was lots of fun (you always want to see the mechanic with a screwdriver in the moter as the machine is going...)

So that was our night out during the Puja- we might go out on Thursday to see some of the processions down to the river. It was a very interesting festival- we were glad to have guys with us who knew what everything was and could explain it!

Maddie, Nisha, Sophie and Sanjay, the best guide ever!

Maddie and Jack, our other guide