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WELCOME TO AMARPUJO – A Festival of Homecoming

Some wait all year for the sound of bells and the scent of incense that announces her arrival. For others, it’s the moment they step into a pandal and feel like they’ve finally come home. Durga Pujo is a memory. It’s healing. It’s everything we hold sacred and everything we never want to forget. From the first stroke of clay at Kumartuli to the final sindoor at Dashami, Durga Pujo is a celebration crafted with care, colors, and centuries of devotion. It is where mythology meets modernity, art meets soul, and the mortal meets the divine. In Bengal, Pujo is not just seen — it is felt, lived, and loved.

In Bengal, Durga Puja is not just a festival—it is a season, a mood, a many-voiced raga that begins in the faint rustle of shiuli flowers and rises toward the thunder of dhaak. It is scripture retold as street theatre, myth reborn as neighborhood memory, and history stitched into fabric and bamboo. If you follow its thread back through time—through the Puranas and epics, through the alleys of medieval Bengal and the grand avenues of Calcutta—you find a living ritual that keeps reinventing itself while holding on to an ancient heartbeat. This is a creative walk through that tapestry: Veda and Purana, history and everyday Bengal, all converging in the five luminous days we call Pujo.

DURGA PUJA 2025 - 28TH SEPT 2025 - 02 OCT 2025

In 2021, UNESCO recognized Durga Puja in Kolkata as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, affirming what Bengalis have always known — that this festival is more than worship. It’s emotion, identity, and legacy.

Durga Puja 2025

Idols, Identity & Immortality: The Evolution of Pujo in Bengal

Durga Puja, today a grand spectacle of devotion, artistry, and celebration, has roots that are both ancient and evolving — just like Bengal itself.The worship of Goddess Durga, the embodiment of divine strength, can be traced back to pre-Vedic times, but the concept of Sharadiya Durga Puja — the autumnal worship we celebrate today — began to gain prominence in medieval Bengal. Initially a private, aristocratic affair, it was the zamindars (landlords) of Bengal in the 16th and 17th centuries who organized elaborate household pujas to showcase both devotion and prestige. One of the earliest recorded public celebrations is credited to Raja Kangsha Narayan of Taherpur in Nadia district, who organized a community Durga Puja in the late 1500s. However, it wasn’t until the British colonial era that the festival transformed dramatically. Durga Puja became a canvas for Bengali identity, resistance, and cultural pride — blending rituals with music, art, literature, and later, nationalism. By the early 20th century, Durga Puja evolved into the sarbojanin (community) puja, supported by public donations and organized by local clubs and committees. What sets Bengal’s Durga Puja apart isn’t just its grandeur — it’s the fusion of sacred and social, the way it celebrates both the divine mother and the collective spirit of a community.

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Timeline of Durga Mythology and Puja Evolution

Mythological Era Goddess Durga is born from the combined divine energies of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva to restore cosmic balance and defeat the invincible demon Mahishasura.
Mythological Era Durga engages in a fierce nine-day battle against Mahishasura, culminating in his defeat, symbolizing the eternal victory of good over evil.
4th-6th century CE Earliest archaeological evidence found in temple carvings and inscriptions across India bears testimony to the worship of Goddess Durga.
8th-12th century CE Durga Puja emerges as an important cultural and religious festival in Eastern India, documented in regional literature and Sanskrit texts.
15th century Durga Puja transcends private worship to become a grand community festival in Bengal, featuring elaborate rituals and public celebrations.
17th-18th century Literary giants like Krittibas Ojha and other Bengali poets enrich Durga Puja traditions through epic poetry and mythological narratives.
19th century The patronage of zamindars and wealthy elites leads to the development of artistic pandals and sculptural innovations during Durga Puja.
20th century Durga Puja becomes a mass cultural phenomenon, integrating art, music, drama, and social gatherings, amplified by modern media.
Late 20th–21st century Globalization and technology propel Durga Puja onto the world stage, spreading its rich cultural heritage beyond India, embraced by diaspora communities worldwide.

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A Decade of Artistic and Cultural Metamorphosis

In the historic quarters of Kolkata, Durga Puja’s origins are rooted firmly within the private spheres of the city’s aristocracy. Far removed from the contemporary spectacle, the festival began as a series of intimate, exclusive rituals, primarily orchestrated by the influential Bonedi Baris. Notably, the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family established what is recognized as Kolkata’s oldest Durga Puja in 1610, preceding even the city’s formal establishment. Later, in 1757, Raja Nabakrishna Deb of Shobhabazar Rajbari initiated another significant puja, notable for its grandeur and its distinguished guest list, including Lord Clive.

These early celebrations functioned as both religious observances and markers of social status. The rituals were meticulously preserved, and the Atchala-style idols—with their measured serenity—reflected a deep commitment to tradition. Participation was restricted to invited guests, underscoring the exclusivity and prestige associated with these events.

The artisanal heritage underpinning Durga Puja is exemplified by Kumartuli, a neighborhood renowned for its community of potters. For over three centuries, these artisans have been central to the festival’s visual culture. The craft, typically passed down through generations, is both ritualistic and highly skilled. A notable tradition involves incorporating soil from a brothel into the idol’s base, symbolizing the inclusive and universal aspect of the Divine Mother. Each family of artisans imparts subtle stylistic variations to the idols, creating a body of work that is both collective and distinctive.

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A Festival of the People, for the People

A significant transformation in the festival’s artistic direction occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century. The involvement of professional artists—initiated by Nirode Majumdar’s innovative design for the Bakulbagan puja in 1975—marked a departure from strict adherence to traditional forms. This shift allowed for the emergence of the pandal as a site of temporary, immersive art, where celebrated artists could reinterpret the goddess’s image and the very space of the festival. This movement laid the groundwork for the contemporary, theme-based pujas that are now integral to Kolkata’s cultural landscape.

Today, Durga Puja in Kolkata is characterized by a dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation. In North Kolkata, the Bonedi Bari pujas persist as repositories of ritual continuity and heritage, preserving the aesthetics and practices of earlier centuries. In contrast, South Kolkata has become synonymous with experimental, artist-driven pandals, where creativity and technical ingenuity are foregrounded.

Ultimately, the festival’s enduring significance lies in its synthesis of historical continuity and contemporary expression. Durga Puja serves as both a living museum of hereditary craftsmanship and a platform for avant-garde artistic experimentation, reflecting the evolving identity of Kolkata itself.