Celebration Will Begin 10 Days Ahead of Durga Puja As We Got UNESCO Recognition: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal will begin the celebration 10 days before Durga Puja next year to commemorate the UNESCO recognition of "Durga Puja in Kolkata."
Celebration Will Begin 10 Days Ahead of Durga Puja As We Got UNESCO Recognition: Mamata Banerjee

To honour the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) accreditation of "Durga Puja in Kolkata," West Bengal will begin the celebrations 10 days before Durga Puja next year.

"We received UNESCO certification," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday. "As a result, festivities will begin 10 days before Durga Puja."

On Wednesday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) placed "Durga Puja in Kolkata" on the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." Durga Puja is a major annual festival in West Bengal that takes place in the Shukla Paksha of the Hindu month Ashwin (September-October). It's also seen in other parts of India, especially among Bengalis who live overseas.

The Goddess Durga is worshipped over the whole ten-day festival. Handicraft workshops in Kolkata build idols of Durga and her children using unfired clay from the Ganga's riverbed months before the festival (Lakhsmi, Saraswati, Kartik, and Ganesh). On Mahalaya Day, the celebration begins with the 'pran pratistha' ritual of painting the goddess idol's eyes. Each day of the festival, whether Sasthi, Saptami, or Ashtami, has its own importance and set of celebrations. The statues are submerged in the river from where the clay was gathered on Vijaya Dashami, the tenth day of the festival. 

Durga puja is celebrated as a festival of compassion, fraternity, humanity, art, and culture, in addition to its religious importance. With the addition of colorful lights, Kolkata transforms into a gorgeous diva. The sound of 'dhaak' may be heard all throughout the city. There is a merry-go-round feeling these days, with everything from new clothes to wonderful meals. 

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