Jagadhatri Puja Celebration at Chandannagar in Hooghly

As Durga Puja symbolises the beginning of festive season in the West Bengal followed by the Lakshmi Puja, Dhanteras, Kali Puja, Diwali, Kartik Puja and Chhath Puja similarly, the Jagadhatri Puja marks the end of another festive season in the state. To be precise, Jagadhatri is another name of the goddess Durga and she is worshipped or paid homage for four days by the people during the Jagadhatri festival. The word Jaga means ‘earth or world’ and the word Dhatri means ‘mother.’ So, the complete meaning of the word Jagadhatri is ‘Mother of the World.’

Even though Jagadhatri Puja is celebrated in various parts of the West Bengal State, but the celebration of the festival at the Hooghly district draws the headlines. Wonderful pandals and lighting brilliance is displayed in the various regions of the district including Chandannagar, Rishra, Mankundu, Bhadreswar, etc. However, the celebration of the festival at Chandannagar is popular and well-known to everyone.

This four-day celebration not only draws people from different parts of the state or country, but it also attracts tourists from abroad. The extravagant interiors and exteriors of the pandals, the decoration of the deity, the wonderful display of neon lighting at various corners and the never ending enthusiasm among the people are the main attractions of the festival here. The festival is celebrated here more or less like a rich culture, heritage and tradition. Chandannagar is well known for rich display of lighting art-work and it maintains its supremacy in this regard from the early seventies until today.

Spreading over more than 19 square kilometres, Chandannagar is hosting around 139 Jagadhatri Puja Mandaps. After including the Bhadreswar region, the tally soars up to 156 Puja Mandaps in all. These pandals could be divided into two categories on visual basis, namely theme and lighting based. Also, an environment of healthy completion creeps in among the creators and organisers of the various Puja mandaps. Expectedly, this does add an extra tinge of class as far as creativity is concerned. If a puja mandap is planning to pay a tribute to late President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam the other is pouring in its heart and soul to craft out a masterpiece with kitchen wares. While some others are planning to come up with the unique theme of the Kolkata Alipore Zoological Garden, Bird’s Nest, Happiness of Festive Gatherings and so on.

While Jagadhatri Puja is celebrated for a day only in most places, but Chandannagar specialises in celebrating the event for four days. Look at the big stages decorated at various places for distributing ‘Bhog’ or ‘Prasad’ on the auspicious occasion of Navami. Processions of people move out on the roads as they slowly proceed making their way to the Puja mandaps. Thus every inch of the ground is covered with the locals, visitors and tourists pouring in from different directions and moving ahead in one direction amidst high security of police forces, guards and volunteers. Notably, the spirit remains high as the breeze brings in the message of celebration together with the beatings of drums and music.

This year, Jagadhatri Puja is from 18th of November to 21st of November, 2015. Specifically, people would celebrate Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami respectively on these four days.

Due to the joint initiative of the Chandannagar Corporation and CTC, special buses would run from the Dharmatala region of Kolkata to Chandannagar for the convenience of the visitors on the 19th, 20th and 21st of November. During these four festive days people gather in large numbers by the road, rail and waterways at Chandannagar. As because some of the visitors may not be well-aware of the region the initiative is taken to provide a hassle free puja pandal hopping experience. The buses would leave Dharmatala for the Chandannagar festival on 19th and 20th at 1pm and the tourists would get the privilege to view the top Puja attractions including Wonderland Park, Kola Bazar, Sitalatala, Talpukur, Bagbazar, Bansberia, Brahmin Para and so on. Another bus would leave Dharmatala on the 21st of November at 5pm. Intended buyers may purchase the ticket from 11am to 5pm before 17th November, 2015. The ticket fare for the Chandannagar Jagadhatri Puja Parikrama varies from RS 750 to RS 1000.

You may plan to reach Chandannagar all by yourself on the festive days by train as well from the Howrah Station. Local trains like the Katwa Local, Burdwan Local and Bandel Local available from the Howrah Station at Kolkata to Chandannagar Station in Hooghly. The frequency of these train service is good as these are available at regular intervals at the Howrah Station. By road, Chandannagar could be reached through G. T. Road.