In Bengal, goddess Kali doesn’t just get a farewell. She races and dances; videos go viral

Kolkata: While much of India lit lamps for Diwali, West Bengal worshipped Kali, the fierce goddess of time and destruction. Kali Puja is generally held a day ahead of Diwali. This year it fell on Sunday, November 8. The day after, two villages turned the traditional immersion into something else entirely.

The race

In Malatipur, a village in Malda's Chanchal sub-division, eight Kali idols are hoisted onto shoulders and carried through the streets amid chants, blowing of conch shells and drumbeats. The route ends at a pond near the ancient Kalibari. At the Durga Mandir ground, the idols circle the field like racers for around two hours. The ritual is called Kali Dour, or Kali race.

Locals credit Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra, king of Chanchal, with starting it. The reason was practical. The village had a single pond for all idols, so the king turned immersion into a competition to manage the crowd. Age estimates range from over 300 years to nearly 350. Social media has since made it a draw. Visitors now come from Kolkata and beyond.

The dance

In Shantipur, in Nadia district, the goddess takes the form of Bamakali. Her left foot rests on Shiva's chest, and "Bama" means left, linked to her Tantric form. On the way to the river, the idol dances on devotees' shoulders. Local belief holds that when the procession passes a shrine of a goddess seen as her friend, Bamakali is made to dance facing that deity. This year, a large crowd gathered at Bejpara grounds on November 9 to watch. The videos are going viral on social media now.

Why it matters

Both rituals survive on community effort. The idols are carried by hand, and the event depends on hundreds of shoulders and thousands of onlookers. Origins and ages are also disputed, a reminder that much of folk tradition rests on oral history. Shantipur's dance is described as 500 years old, yet the present idol tradition dates to 1969.

In Bengal, even a goddess associated with destruction is seen off with music and dancing.