I am going to show you around how Jabalpur looks during the festive time of Dussehra. You might remember a similar post I posted two years back, and here it is again. This time I got a bit more.

As discussed before, Jabalpur’s Dussehra is craziness. Madhya Pradesh is quite possibly the only state which contains a perfect mix of people from every region in India. From that it derives that a lot of Bengali people are here as well to celebrate Dussehra. However that is only half the reason. Bengali or not, Dussehra is celebrated by every Hindu as well as Sikh over here.

Pandal created by one of the Punjabi celebrations

This does not comes from statistics so I could be wrong but after Kolkata, Jabalpur’s Dussehra is considered biggest.

One very important reason could be that Jabalpur’s a city considered blessed by certain Goddesses, all of whom according to Indian mythology originate from the single Goddess, Parvati. And Dussehra is a celebrated for one of the avatars of Parvati: Durga.

Each of these statues that you see are easily more than 10 feet tall, no questions asked. However, they are made completely green and are light, around just 6 people can lift it.

There are fairs that spread across some of the famous religious locations

and the prices at which you can buy some toys are unbelievable. Not the best finishing which is well acceptable at those rates.

Its probably not visible but that’s a decently big hill and it is decorated with lights. They are showing a small play automated with levers and gears. This is really common here, these plays are shown every half and hour or something at some select places. Half a mile of the road is blocked because everyone wants to see the play.

It is actually quite unique that I am seeing the celebrations at exactly the same streets and corners since as many years as my age.

The amount of detail in the artwork is commendable. If you can see, apart from the statue of the Goddess attacking the monsters, the decoration around involves two women playing a trumpet. There is more if you look closely, people probably skim through all that.

This is a famous location where ever year a very expensive pandal is decorated. There are around 100 small statues around the pandal telling the story of Krishna’s Childhood apart from the very well carved Durga’s statue.

You know I am not even a religious person but I do enjoy this festival in this town. It really brings people together. More photographs follows:

Durga Pooja in Jabalpur is seriously serious. The count of pandals all over the city is incredible and the quality of artwork is brilliant. You will just keep looking at the small small details the artists work on. Easily second best Durga Pooja after Kolkata hands down. I was blessed to go home (jabalpur) during dussehra this time around. Some pics:

The wish to be unique is visible in many statues. Single color, marble sort of look given to the whole setup:

Goddess on lotus (giving the illusion of) floating on water.
Pandal entrance. See the crowd. Perfect for pick pockets. But you know what? I havn’t heard any such cases, people really have faith during the celebration.
Some like to go unconventional, and try to depict a war scene mixing with the traditional stances
Some organizers maintain consistency. For e.g., the Pooja at telegraph are known for angry face goddess Durga (since my childhood, thats arnd 25yrs, they have remained consistent)
This is one of the small pandals, believe me
See the size of the following statueSome times, just watching the pandals gives the fillAgain, compare the size of the statue with the person standing in front. Truly divine.Check out the complete album here