One evening in south Kolkata

Unlike the north, the south does not join up on foot. Bhowanipore, Kalighat and Deshapriya Park, Ballygunge and Gariahat, Jodhpur Park and Selimpur — each of these is a good walk in itself, and the gaps between them are a Metro ride or a very long trudge.

So the plan is: two clusters, one Metro hop between them, and the acceptance that you are not doing all four.

Start at Jatin Das Park or Netaji Bhavan and walk Bhowanipore. Maddox Square is the anchor and is less a pandal than a large field full of people sitting on the grass until very late; the paras around it are the actual walking.

Then Metro one or two stops to Kalighat and walk Deshapriya Park and the Kalighat lanes. Expect managed queues and a police-set walking direction here — the big-ground pujas in this cluster draw very heavy crowds.

Finish at Gariahat if you still have legs: the market is open, the crossing is chaotic, and the pujas around Ballygunge sit within a few hundred metres of one another.

If the queues at the famous southern grounds sound like a poor use of an evening — and on Ashtami they are — swap the middle leg for Jodhpur Park, Selimpur and Santoshpur, which are quieter, entirely walkable, and much more like what a para puja actually is.

The north–south Metro line covers this whole itinerary, which is the reason to build the evening around it. Southern Avenue, Rashbehari and Gariahat are the roads to stand on if you need a cab.