Happening Kolkata

Come October and the West Bengal Government, together with the NGO Happenings, would package and sell its grand autumn festival, celebratin...

Come October and the West Bengal Government, together with the NGO Happenings, would package and sell its grand autumn festival, celebrating the homecoming of goddess Durga, to the world. The price tag — a neat Rs 22,000 for Indians and US $750 for foreign tourists — should hardly pinch for five fun-filled days of music, food, pandal-hopping and stay in the city’s luxury hotels, say the organisers.

A spokesperson of the NGO, Bandana Bakshi, said they were the ones who sold the idea to the state government that West Bengal could attract a lot of tourists by packaging the grandeur of the Durga Puja. She said the response, so far, from foreign tourists has been ‘‘good’’.

Chief organiser A.B. Iyenger said the puja is not only being packaged as the biggest autumn festival in eastern India but as the only ‘‘mass-organised’’ festival of its kind. ‘‘If we execute the plan properly, we can make foreign tourists spend at least 10 million US dollars on the festival in the next five years,’’ said another organiser.

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The tentative schedule drawn up by the organisers is as follows: • Day 1: A traditional welcome, a tour of the city and an evening of classical music • Day 2: A walk around Dalhousie that carries the stamp of the raj. A tram ride. A guided tour of puja pandals • Day 3: More pandal-hopping and a cruise down the river. A sumptuous dinner with the city’s elite • Day 4: Shopping, golf, a visit to exhibitions, museum/film show. Also a glimpse of rural art, crafts, music and dances

• Day 5: Navratri festival, sindoor khela (a ritual in which married women apply vermillion to the goddess before bidding her farewell) and a visit to the ghats for witnessing the immersion of idols

Government sources said the NGO has been entrusted with the job of implementing the project. And if the city’s fabled traffic snarls don’t play spoilsport, the organisers feel the project would be a big hit.

A senior government official told The Indian Express that they have asked authorities concerned like the Municipal Corporation, the Port Trust and the Railways to keep the city clean during the festival. Some of the buildings — especially those dotting the road to Howrah station and those near Writers’ Buildings — would get a fresh coat of paint.