Red Road glitters as thousands witness record-breaking carnival
Kolkata: A sea of people, including international delegates, thronged Red Road on Sunday evening to witness the grand Durga Puja Carnival, where nearly 93 community Puja organisers paraded their idols and tableaux in a spectacular celebration of Bengal’s biggest festival.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who attended the carnival, greeted each participating Puja committee and joined Tollywood celebrities on stage, even dancing briefly as the groups performed before immersion.
The event opened with a captivating performance by danseuse Dona Ganguly’s troupe, Diksha Manjari, followed by processions from leading Puja committees such as Sreebhumi, Ballygunge Cultural, Behala Natun Dal, Dum Dum Park Tarun Sangha, Suruchi Sangha, Chetla Agrani and Ajeyo Sanghati. Many tableaux recreated their pandal themes, with short performances before heading for immersion at Babu Ghat and other ghats along the Hooghly. Several groups presented songs penned by Banerjee for this year’s festivities.
Among the highlights was a graceful performance by minister Chandrima Bhattacharya representing Gariahat Hindustan Park Sarbojonin, dancing to “A Mori Bangla Bhasha”. Bollywood actor Meenakshi Seshadri and Tollywood’s Srabanti Chatterjee performed for the Alipore Bodyguard Lines Puja, while Aparajita Adhya represented Dakshin Kolkata Sarbojonin.
The carnival drew a glittering line-up of Tollywood stars—Sudipta Banerjee, Trina Saha, Oindrila Sen, Ankush Hazra, Soham Chakraborty and others—as Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima and Riya Sen, Arindam Sil and Jishu Sengupta watched from the dais alongside the Chief Minister. A heartwarming moment came when a child braved the rain to gift Banerjee a present, which she accepted with a smile. Despite intermittent showers, the festive spirit remained undampened, with Banerjee playfully gifting saplings and ceremonial fans to the attending celebrities.
This year’s carnival recorded the highest-ever participation of foreign delegates, underscoring its growing global appeal. Diplomats and consul generals from several countries attended the event, which featured pujas recognised under the ‘Biswa Bangla Sharad Samman’ awards from Kolkata, Bidhannagar, South Dum Dum and Baranagar municipalities.
The carnival was live-streamed through the Chief Minister’s and Kolkata Police’s Facebook pages, reaching millions of viewers worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Opposition criticised the event, with Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleging that “while North Bengal reels under floods and landslides, the administration is busy hosting a carnival in Kolkata”. Trinamool leaders countered that the event was pre-scheduled and that disaster relief operations were already underway across the affected regions.
