In an age when children have turned couch-potato with gadgets in hand, watching TV or playing a video game, forgetting how to interact and communicate even with family and friends, West Bengal government’s Information & Cultural Affairs Department has come up with an innovative way
Steeped in history, Bishnupur of Bankura is famous for its exquisite terracotta temples. It also has a glorious past that is reflected in its architecture, music and handicrafts such as pottery and weaving. Bishnupur prospered in the 17th and 18th century under the Malla dynasty.
It is said that each and every wall of Kolkata is a rich treasure-trove of historical resources. They have tales to relate to the discerning audience. Kolkata served as the capital of colonial India under the British East India Company. By the end of the
March 17, 1935. A peace-loving great humanist and poet-artist sketched the profile of hated tyrant-dictator, Benito Mussolini – one who is held as the mastermind behind World War II. But who was the artist? None other than Rabindranath Tagore. The lines that depict the portrait
He loves watching butterflies and birds sitting for hours. That’s how legendary cricketer Arun Lal meditates. In an exclusive rendezvous with an audience of organic food lovers on how he has been fighting his rare neuron-transmitted cancer for over a year, Arun Lal had one
That delicate handspun Muslin, globally revered, locally spun by weavers down generations have always touched a connoisseur’s dream to own one. The famous textile had flourished in all its glory in undivided Bengal. But why did ancient India celebrate Muslin yarn as a symbol of
Indubala, the mellifluous singer and performer, hailed from the infamous red-light alleys of Rambagan in North Calcutta. But that was no deterrent to her achieving stardom as a brilliant singer, early in her teens. The velvety texture of her voice, amazing pitch range and melodious
Do you still have that Madur at home, the one we sat on during our childhood days with a bowl of puffed rice on a winter morning and some nolengur, chatting up with friends and family? Most urban Bengali homes today have bean bags or
If you push the ‘past’ button on a Musical Time Machine, tracing Renaissance in Bengali songs, you will probably realize musical creations of Bengal were a confluence of global themes, since the time when Rabindranath Tagore composed Puranoshei diner katha. That button was again pressed
For the rest of the world, rice might be just a staple grain for consumption. But for Bengalis, it is no ordinary meal. It is an auspicious and divine grain in the eastern part of India. In all our festivities from birth till death, rice