Church visits, outings, food make for Christmas merry in Kolkata
kolkata: Nevermind if the minimum temperature in Kolkata was 3 degree Celsius above normal and at times it was difficult to keep the warm clothing on, the 'City Of Joy' celebrated Christmas with traditional fervour, gaiety and pomp.
Picnics, visits to churches by the faithful and long queues outside various monuments and eateries, city dwellers were seen thronging it all to soak in the Christmas spirit. As evening descended, the dazzling Park Street, the beautifully decorated cynosure of many people for whom a visit to the place in central Kolkata is a must for food and drinks and merrymaking, came to life with gusto.There were queues of the young and old at St Paul's Cathedral and Bandel Church in the neighbouring Hooghly district.
While most of the revellers were not keen on heeding to a fresh alarm over a new variant of the Coronavirus making its advent, a few were more cautious about using masks and hand sanitisers in public places.
Around one lakh people visited the Alipore Zoological Gardens on the day of Christmas. Though many booked their tickets online, the excessive crowding at the zoo meant long lines at ticket counters.
The biggest attraction amongst the visitors continued to be Babu, the chimpanzee as people surrounded his enclosure area to catch a glimpse of the great ape. Places like Victoria Memorial, Science City and Eco Park witnessed huge footfalls. Around 38, 247 people visited Victoria Memorial on Sunday, while 22, 368 people visited Science City. The Indian Museum witnessed a crowd of over 11,000 people.
Not only this, various clubs organised Christmas celebrations in their vicinity. A Christmas carnival was organised by the Chetla Agrani Club with skits and carols being sung. Mayor Firhad Hakim was present at the celebrations. The club also organised games for the kids. At Patuli, gifts were given to kids. Apart from the city, the sea beaches of Digha, Mandarmani and Shankarpur were also choc a bloc. The police made detailed arrangements to ensure that no untoward incident occurred while people were celebrating the last festival of 2022.
