On a Puja night a scooter can feel like the cleverest way round Kolkata. It slips past the stuck cars, parks in a fraction of the space and lets you change plans when one neighbourhood gets too crowded. But the closer you get to a famous pandal, the less use it is. Roads close, streets turn into one-way walking routes and the police turn vehicles back. The trick is to ride between neighbourhoods and walk within them.
Ride to the neighbourhood, not to the gate
In the evenings the streets around the busiest pujas are barricaded and given over to people on foot, who are walked through in one direction. Riding up to the entrance is rarely allowed and never quicker. Choose one cluster of pandals for the evening, park on its edge once, and see the rest on foot. Three to five pandals close together make a better night than fifteen spread across the city.
One cluster an evening
Kolkata’s pujas fall into a handful of clusters, each easy to cover on foot once the bike is parked.
- North: Bagbazar, Kumartuli, Ahiritola, Shobhabazar and the pujas around Hatibagan, with the old family pujas in between. The lanes are narrow and old, so leave the bike on a wider road and walk in.
- Central: College Square, Santosh Mitra Square, Mohammad Ali Park and the pujas around Sealdah and Maniktala. Some of the biggest crowds in the city gather here, and the streets fill quickly.
- South: the theme pujas of Ekdalia, Singhi Park, Hindustan Park, Deshapriya Park, Chetla and Suruchi Sangha. The queues are long, and so is the walk from wherever you can park.
- East: Sreebhumi, Lake Town and the Salt Lake blocks. A good choice if you live on that side of the city and would rather not cross it.
Puja Parikrama’s walking routes group pandals that sit close together, so you can park once at the start of a route and walk the whole of it. The planner builds a route for the time you have.
Check this year’s traffic plan
Kolkata Police publishes a traffic plan for the Puja every year, shortly before it begins. It lists the roads closed to vehicles, the stretches that run one way, the hours they apply and where parking, drop-offs and loading are banned, and the police add diversions on the night as crowds build. The details change from year to year, so last year’s shortcut can be this year’s dead end.
- Read the current plan before you set out. It is carried in the local papers and on Kolkata Police’s official channels.
- Navigation apps do not always know about temporary closures. When a barricade or a traffic officer disagrees with your phone, follow the officer.
- Have a second way home in mind. The road you came in on may be closed by the time you leave.
- The Kolkata Traffic Police helpline is 1073, for accidents, closures and traffic trouble.
Where to leave the bike
Parking near the big pujas fills up early, and no-parking stretches grow during the festival. Ask a traffic officer or a puja volunteer where the nearest parking is, and expect to walk a kilometre or more from it.
- Use a proper parking spot, paid if need be, rather than the first gap you see. Parking on the pavement is an offence in itself, with a ₹500 fine the first time in Kolkata.
- Never block a pandal’s entrance or exit, an emergency route, a junction, someone’s gate, or a lane an ambulance or fire engine might need.
- Lock the handlebar, and add a disc lock if you have one. Crowds are good cover for thieves.
- Do not leave your helmet hanging from the mirror. Lock it to the bike or carry it.
- Photograph where you parked, or drop a pin. After three hours of pandals in the dark, every street looks the same.
The rules still apply
Traffic rules do not take the Puja off. These are among the offences on the Kolkata Traffic Police’s own list.
- A helmet for everyone on the bike, rider and pillion alike. Riding without one is a ₹1,000 fine under the Motor Vehicles Act, and the rider can also be disqualified from driving for three months. The helmet must carry the ISI mark; one without it is a separate offence.
- A child on the bike needs a helmet that fits too. For children from nine months to four years old, the rules also call for a safety harness that holds them to the rider, and a speed of no more than 40 km/h.
- One pillion only. Carrying two people behind you breaks the safety rules for motorcycles, and the fine is ₹1,000.
- Carry your driving licence, registration certificate and insurance. Copies in DigiLocker or mParivahan on your phone are accepted. Riding without a licence is a ₹5,000 fine.
- Do not drink and ride. A first offence can mean a ₹10,000 fine, up to six months in prison, or both.
Before you set out
- Fill the tank first. Hunting for fuel in a diversion is no way to spend a Puja evening.
- Check the tyres, the brakes and every light. You will be riding after dark, in stop-start traffic, often on wet roads.
- Charge your phone and carry a power bank. You will lean on it for maps, payments and finding your friends.
- Pack a raincoat. October showers are common, and a light one folds under the seat.
- Carry water, and some cash in small notes for parking and the food stalls.
Riding through the crowds
- Ride slowly near pandals. People step off the pavement without looking, children dart across, and crowds spill into the road.
- Do not stop in the road to look at a pandal or its lights from the bike. It blocks the traffic behind you. Park first, then look.
- Keep the horn for emergencies. A crowd on foot cannot get out of your way.
- After rain, painted road markings, old tram lines and metal manhole covers turn slippery. Brake gently and leave more room.
- Take the ride home seriously. Late at night the roads empty, speeds rise and everyone is tired. Leave while you are still fresh enough to ride well.
Or leave the bike at home
On the busiest nights, from Saptami to Nabami, it can be easier to skip the bike altogether. The metro runs special hours during the Puja and drops you close to several of the big clusters. The visitor guide has this year’s timetable, and the ready-made circuits on the routes page name the stations nearest each one.