Kolkata’s phanush tradition faced a major disruption during Kali Puja after a new mandatory licence requirement prevented one family from releasing its handmade sky lanterns and pushed another to shift the event to a different venue.
The Dutta family, which has been making and releasing phanush since 1924, prepared 14 lanterns for this year’s celebration. Ajay Dutta decided not to release them after failing to obtain the required licence. Instead, he displayed the lanterns at Bholanath Dham on Beadon Street.
The family’s 102-year tradition was put on hold despite efforts to seek permission from the authorities. Dutta said he visited Lalbazar and was directed to several departments, including the arms and ammunition section and the fire department. He also emailed the police commissioner and the director general of fire services and submitted copies of his applications to the local police station.
According to Dutta, officials did not provide clear guidance on the licensing process. Some reportedly said they were unaware of a procedure for issuing the licence, while others advised him to approach the police. He also appealed to the chief minister through a social media post on Saturday but said there was no response.
“I tried my best to get permission and, in desperation, even tagged the chief minister in a social media post on Saturday. But there was no reply. Since I did not get the licence, I decided not to release them into the sky,” Dutta said. He added that the lanterns, which were between 5ft and 15ft high, had cost about Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 each to make. Work on four additional lanterns was stopped because of the uncertainty.
The licensing issue also affected PK Mallick, who has released handmade phanush for more than six decades from Dhar Villa near Hedua. Mallick shifted this year’s event to another house in Goabagan because he did not want the owners of Dhar Villa to face problems if questions were raised later. He released eight lanterns from the alternative location.
Mallick said local police did not stop the release, but he had also written to the local police station, the commissioner and the director general of fire services without receiving permission. To manage the release, he used a low-height terrace and four tall poles to control the lanterns after they were launched.
The disruption disappointed families in Hedua who had gathered on terraces to watch the annual spectacle. The phanush tradition is believed to have begun around 110 years ago with Gouri Shankar Dey of Hatkhola-Darjipara and later became associated with Kali Puja as a quieter alternative to loud firecrackers.
Dutta placed a poster at Bholanath Dham announcing the untimely death of “Phanush Utsav”. The immediate issue remains the absence of a clearly communicated licensing process for families seeking to conduct the release, while the authorities’ next steps were not specified in the report.
