(ANSA) – NEW DELHI, DEC 16 – India celebrates the decision of Unesco which yesterday registered the Durga Puja festival in Calcutta in the list of intangible heritage of humanity. According to the release of the United Nations agency, the festival that takes place every autumn in the capital of West Bengal is the only one approved out of twenty other Indian candidate traditions.
Prime Minister Modi hailed the decision as “a moment of pride and joy for every Indian”. “Calcutta Durga Puja is an experience that everyone should have in life,” he tweeted.
State governor Mamata Banerjee said that “for every Bengali Durga Puja is much more than a festival, it is an emotion that unites. We are at the height of joy.”
During the week of the event, which takes place from the sixth to the tenth full moon day in the month of Ashvin, the sixth of the Hindu calendar, usually towards the end of October, organizations across the state set up nearly 40,000 “altars” and ceremonies in honor of the goddess Durga, also known as Khali. In Calcutta alone the events are about 2,500, with millions of people who for five days swarm day and night in the neighborhoods of the city to pay homage to the goddess with many arms, who rides a tiger, and to visit the “pandals”, the spectacular displays, often very expensive. There are already 14 Indian events registered on the Unesco intangible heritage list, including Yoga and the Kumbh Mela, the largest religious pilgrimage in the world, admitted to the list in 2016 and 2017 respectively. (ANSA).
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Source From: Ansa
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