Bengalis love to read and have a strong artistic streak with music, theatre and crafts featuring strongly as part of their culture. There is also a love of sport in the city with the first Indian football clubs being founded here. In 1911 a local team, wearing nothing on their feet, beat the local British regiment in the Indian equivalent of the World Cup! This fostered a great interest in the game although since then interest has wained and cricket can now be called the national sport of the country. Kolkata is also the home of the oldest cricket and golf clubs outside the UK. No gap year is complete without a visit to the legendary
Eden Gardens and if you are lucky enough you may be able witness a cricket match here.
kolkata has a very ethnically diverse and tolerant society with a varied religious make up and all major festivals are celebrated.
Durga Puja
This is the most notable of the religious and social festivals in Kolkata. Durga Puja is a Hindu celebration and occurs over a period of five days in September / October. Durga, in Sanskrit means "She who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach" and the Goddess Durga is seen as Mother of the Universe, representing infinite power and a symbol of female dynamism. She is also called by many other names, such as Parvati, Ambika, and Kali. In the form of Parvati, She is known as the divine spouse of Lord Shiva and is the mother of Her two sons, Ganesha and Karttikeya, & daughter Paravati & Lakshmi. As a destroyer of demons, she is worshiped during the Durga puja, especially popular among Bengalis.
Other Festivals
Some of the cultural festivals in the city are Kolkata Book Fair, the biggest in the country, the
Dover Lane Music Festival, the
Kolkata Film Festival and the
National Theatre Festival.