Durga Puja is an emotion. It is not just a festival, rather a tapestry of art and culture displayed as one of the largest street festivals of the world. No wonder UNESCO has thus given it the honour last year in the UNESCO list of
Murshidabad, on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, is steeped in history. Set up by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, the Dewan of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, it was originally named ‘Maksudabad’. Murshidabad was once the capital of this vast region in the East. Calcutta, now
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. He made enduring and influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and historical materialism. In 1931, he published ‘Little History of Photography.’ That very year, two 12-year-old Bengali twin sisters from Ramnagar
There was a classic 'tears beneath the laughter' story that Bhanu Bandyopadhyay reportedly loved to tell. "You know what my life is like? I'll tell you. My mother has just passed away. I'm waiting at the crematorium, eyes full of tears. Somebody comes up to
Human beings are born creative and then taught to be uncreative as they grow older. A creative soul can breathe life into a block of wood or sculpt ethereal figures from stones or take a lump of soil to make exquisite idols. People who retain
The year was 1923. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of rural development which had led to the foundation of Sriniketan, freedom fighter Susen Mukherjee came up with the idea of Amar Kutir. Just about a decade later, Amar Kutir began to draw the attention of
Denis Stern’s music is a confluence of many global cultures and is influenced by the musician’s international travel through Russia, Spain, Israel, Italy and India. His single ‘Way to Alhambra’ was featured in the platinum compilation Chambao Flamenco Chill alongside legendary flamenco players Paco de
Lord Krishna was often called the Makhhan Chor! The one who stole butter from his milkmaid mother’s pots and pans or from the houses of other villagers and finish them off at one go. As per folklore, Krishna’s favourite food was butter, hence on his
Poet Annadashankar Roy once wrote, “Hanser priyo googly/ Portugeeseder Hooghly/ Gooner priyo tanpura/ Olandajder Chinsura” which roughly translated means, ‘Just as a duck’s most-loved food is snail so is Hooghly a favourite haunt of the Protuguese/ A gifted singer’s favoured accompanist is tanpura (a musical
Chattagram Astragar Lunthan (1949) The importance of Bengal in India’s freedom struggle has been widely written and spoken about. Post-Independence, the contribution to the patriotic cause has continued in the form of literature, art and not least, cinema. On the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, here’s