The Kolkata Mahalaya event at Eden Gardens began on Saturday with cultural performances, a high-profile gathering and technology-led shows, while traffic restrictions were imposed on key roads around the venue for the programme.
The event, organised for Mahalaya, opened with traditional drum performances, indigenous dance and a musical presentation by Lagnajita Chakraborty, according to Sangbad Pratidin. Several public figures and performers, including June Malia, Swapan Dasgupta, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and singer Iman Chakraborty, were reported to have reached Eden Gardens.
The report said Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari travelled to the venue from Red Road with a procession. Actor Rituparna Sengupta and other public figures were also present. Author Taslima Nasrin was reported to be on the stage at the Eden Gardens programme.
The event was designed as a city-wide cultural celebration rather than a venue-only programme. Red Road was presented with cultural displays representing the diversity of different districts, including their art, music and dance traditions. Similar celebrations were scheduled to begin in districts alongside the main Kolkata programme.
The programme at Eden Gardens also included a drone show and three-dimensional projection mapping depicting the invocation of Goddess Durga. Sangbad Pratidin reported that the programme would be made available to audiences outside India, with simultaneous viewing planned at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Boston and Times Square in New York. Performances were scheduled from singers Shaan, Lagnajita, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Antara Mitra, along with the Bengali band Dohar and Shantanu Moitra and his group.
The event also affected movement of goods vehicles in central Kolkata. A Kolkata Traffic Police notice cited in the report said goods vehicles would be restricted on Strand Road and on St George’s Gate Road between Raja Woodmont Street and Hastings Crossing. The restriction was scheduled to remain in force from 4 am to 4 pm on Saturday.
The arrangements extended to the riverfront, with the two banks of the Hooghly being decorated for the celebration and a Ganga aarti planned. The traffic restrictions and road-based cultural displays show how large public events in central Kolkata require coordination between cultural programming, traffic regulation and the use of major public spaces. The report did not provide details of restrictions for private vehicles or public transport.
