Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrates creativity

Kolkata’s Durga Puja is taking a different turn this year under the watchful eyes of Navonil Das (one half of Dev r Nil). Das has curated a festival called Thakurdalan by the Flyover that celebrates the creativity and talent in Kolkata. The festival at restaurant Jhaal Farezi, in a bungalow remodelled from an old colonial house, has so far seen performances by Tajdar Junaid (who recently performed at the Venice Film Festival) and showcases fashion and art installations by Kallol Datta and Dev r Nil, photographs by Swarup Dutta, paintings by Ayushman Mitra, and at the centre of it all, a Durga sculpture by Narayan Sinha. 

“The Thakurdalan project was conceived to bring together new-age artists and designers and people from various other creative disciplines, under one roof. The focus has primarily been on talent from Bengal. The Durga Pujas, one of the largest festivals of its kind in Bengal, gets visitors from all around the country and the world. Thus this was one of the best times to launch Thakurdalan – the courtyard of the goddess,” explains Das.

Thakurdalan by the Flyover is on until October 2.