BALURGHAT, Oct. 23 -- The festival of Bhai Phonta turned Balurghat into a hub of sweetness and celebration on Thursday. The age-old ritual, symbolising the bond between brothers and sisters, saw sisters applying the sacred mark on their brothers' foreheads, praying for their well-being and long life.
From early morning, an overwhelming rush was witnessed at sweet shops across the town. The demand for sweets skyrocketed as buyers crowded to pick up the best varieties for the occasion. Every sweet shop in Balurghat showcased an impressive range of traditional and innovative sweets, creating a vibrant festive mood throughout the city.
Shopkeepers prepared an array of new sweets to attract customers this year. Inspired by Kolkata's sweet market, many local shops introduced city-style delicacies for the first time. Keeping in mind the growing concern over diabetes, most sweet makers crafted low-sugar varieties, which saw the highest demand.
Among the most popular choices were chocolate laddus, rasgullas, sandesh, kheer mohan, malai chops, makha sandesh, dry fruit malai sandesh, marble sandesh, tripti sandesh and the creatively named two-in-one rasgulla and glass sandesh. Many stores offered over 40-50 new varieties, with some exceeding 100 types of sweets in total.
Apart from sweets, shops also stocked savory snacks like nimki, cakes and biscuits to cater to varied tastes.
Subarna Sarkar, who came to buy sweets for her brothers, said: "I plan to give my brothers chocolate-flavored sweets this year. They love trying something new every time."
Payel Sarkar, a local resident, added: "Bhai Phonta is incomplete without sweets. The festive mood is truly special."
Another buyer, Biswajit Chakraborty, said: "Every year I look forward to tasting the new varieties the sweet makers come up with."
Sweet seller Sandipan Das shared: "We've worked day and night to prepare over 100 varieties this year and the response has been amazing."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.