I received an unexpected call from my college senior Somasundaram, now the coast guard commandant in Kolkata (West Bengal, India), inviting me to join the Durga Puja festivities of the city. His excitement was infectious. Surprised but thrilled, I agreed, since visiting Kolkata during Durga Puja had long been on my bucket list. Ravindran Solomon, another college senior and now a creative professional, would also join us.
Durga Puja, also called as Durgotsav, is the most revered festival in the Bengali Hindu community, celebrating the triumph of good over evil. This 5-day event pays tribute to Goddess Durga, known as Mahishasuramardini, meaning ‘slayer of Mahishasura’, a buffalo-headed demon.
In Bengal, Goddess Durga is regarded as both a divine mother and beloved daughter, Uma, who returns each year from her husband Shiva’s Himalayan abode to visit her parents on earth, accompanied by her four children—Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. This is marked by religious rituals and cultural events celebrating divine worship and family bonds.
Originally, Durga Pujas took place only in the courtyards (thakurdalans) of zamindar and merchant mansions. The first Barowari Puja (community puja), or ‘puja by 12 friends’, was organized by 12 Brahmins in Guptipara in the late 18th century. This concept spread across Bengal in the 19th century, evolving into Sarbojanin Pujas (public pujas) by the mid-20th century.
The festival reconnects Bengalis with their roots. Many family pujas originated in areas that now belong to Bangladesh, and after the 1947 Partition, displaced families brought these traditions to West Bengal, preserving a connection to their lost homes.
Back to our trip . . . Ravi and I arrived in Kolkata on a Thursday night, and we met Somu at the Indian Coast Guard Residential Enclave at 10:30 p.m. Somu welcomed us, saying, ‘Get ready in fifteen minutes! We’re heading to the nearby pandals.’ (Pandals are temporary stages and structural decorations used in public pujas.) We quickly refreshed and stepped out into the lively night.
Day 1
The city comes alive at night with pandal viewing. As we stepped out into the streets, the festive energy enveloped us. Vibrant lights hung overhead all along the streets, dancing on the faces of passersby. Clusters of people dressed in traditional attires filled the streets. Street vendors lined the sidewalks, their stalls overflowing with tempting snacks.
With three nights to explore, we aimed to cover as many puja pandals as possible—the grand and the modest. Our first stop was the Bamboo pandal in Kankurgachi.
The bamboo structure, pulsing with life under artful illumination, was mesmerizing. Soft lights highlighted the intricate bamboo framework and cast a reddish glow inside the pandal, which accentuated every detail of the idol of Goddess Durga.
It is interesting how pandals have evolved over time. Earlier, pujas featured simple bamboo, cloth, and tarpaulin structures with basic lighting, focusing on religious symbolism rather than display.
In the 1970s and 1980s, professional artists began collaborating with traditional idol makers, merging modern techniques with traditional craftsmanship.
The late 1990s saw the emergence of theme-based pujas, featuring elaborate concepts regarding both idols and pandals. Entire neighbourhoods transformed into tribal villages, ancient forts, or historical markets, offering immersive experiences.
Now Durga Puja is not solely a religious festival—it is an artistic celebration. Each pandal tells a story, merging folk, tribal, and modern art. Organizers of the pandals intermingle religious rituals with contemporary social issues or environmental concerns through innovative and mindful use of resources. The city thus becomes a gallery where creativity meets devotion.
Next, we visited the massive Dak Hindari youth pandal in Ultadanga—a tribute to the Indian Bengali filmmaker Tapan Sinha. With a cinema theme, the pandal resembled a movie set. Every corner echoed cinematic stories, evoking nostalgia for the golden era of Bengali and Indian cinema. The scale of the pandal was awe-inspiring.
It was already 2 a.m., so we decided to head back to catch some sleep.
Day 2
The next evening, we set out around 7 p.m. Our first visit was the famous Park Street, one of the busiest and most happening roads in downtown Kolkata. Serial lights at shopfronts and on trees and lampposts cast a warm glow, illuminating the thoroughfare. The entire road buzzed with passing vehicles as we strolled along.
We stopped at a few smaller pandals on our way to the Metro station; each had its own charm. By the time we reached the station, the crowd had swelled. Despite the packed train, we squeezed in, standing shoulder to shoulder with fellow revellers.
Arriving at Girish Park, we headed to Lalabagan to see the eco-friendly Nabankur Durga Puja pandal, made entirely of nursery plants.
We walked down Kashi Bose Lane, one of the most celebrated locations for the festival, jostling through a packed crowd. The road was a blur of vehicles inching forward in bumper-to-bumper traffic, with car horns blaring incessantly. I found the noise exhausting, but people around me seemed unfazed, fully immersed in the festive spirit.
Every few steps on our way, we found a by-lane with a puja pandal more interesting than the previous one. We happily explored them all, admiring the different artworks.
You might wonder what materials artists use to decorate the Durga idols. Traditionally, the idols were decorated with an ornament (saaj) called sholar saaj, made from sholapith, a light, spongy milky-white substance derived from the shola plant, or the Indian cork plant. This corky material can be pressed and shaped into artefacts. As the availability of sholapith diminished during the colonial period, the artists turned to another embellishment daaker saaj, formed of silver foil (rangta) and sparkling sequins, both of which were initially imported from Germany by mail.
Daak means mail; hence, the term daaker saaj translates to ‘adornment with something that came by mail’. Eventually, this style became a hallmark of decoration.
Here is some information about the artisans who create these idols: Kumartuli—known as the potters’ quarter in Bengali—is an area in North Kolkata, along the Hooghly River. It is home to hundreds of clay sculptors (mritshilpis), who craft nearly 4000 idols for Durga Puja annually. The earliest idol makers of Kumartuli came from Krishnanagar, a city in West Bengal, where unbaked clay art prospered in the 18th century. Also, several idol makers from East Bengal came and settled down in Kumartuli after partition.
These artisans are the unsung heroes of Durga Puja, toiling over 100 days, sculpting the gods we revere and the stories we celebrate. I felt a deeper appreciation knowing that each brushstroke and fold in the idols’ drapery reflects generations of craftsmanship.
After a while, we arrived at the Kashi Bose Lane Durga Puja pandal. Their theme this year (2024) was ‘Ratnagarva’, or Jewel City.
Reflecting the theme, the pandal featured a palace-like architecture with towering columns and intricate carvings that showcased craftsmanship, transporting visitors to a realm of splendour. Jewels adorned every inch of the pandal’s inner walls. The exterior was painted in a rich palette of colours, including gold and deep red, enhancing its grandeur.
Inside, statues of kings and queens depicted royal life, mirroring the theme. Although stunning, the pandal was crowded, leaving us little time to appreciate its beauty.
After some confusion, we finally reached the Lalabagan Nabankur Durga Puja green pandal. Each person we asked for directions sent us in a different direction, leaving us lost until we decided to use Google Maps. Thanks to viral videos of the pandal’s unique ‘green’ theme, Lalabagan Nabankur became one of North Kolkata’s most celebrated puja pandals.
The eco-friendly theme ‘Nabankur’, meaning new life, symbolized the organisers’ commitment to grow and nurture plants and to avoid the huge waste generated by extravagant pandals. The entire pandal, including the idol, was made with more than 8000 plant saplings. It conveyed a message of care, renewal, and responsibility.
Months of effort had gone into gathering over 50 plant varieties, including money plants and areca palms, from across West Bengal, all grown by artists and club members. These plants blended with the pandal decor, creating a fusion of nature and celebration.
Tired from the humid weather, we decided it was time to wind up our pandal-hopping for the day.
Wondering whether the Durga Puja had any economic benefits for the people, I did some search, and here is what I discovered.
Durga Puja—one of the biggest street festivals in the world—is one of the largest employment generators in the state, supporting idol-making, pandal construction, and other creative industries; it attracts corporate sponsorships and media promotions. Advertising agencies run campaigns for the various pandals, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) assist tourists. The food, apparel, hospitality, and travel and tourism industries get a boost as well. Last but not least, hawkers profit from selling snacks
The fiesta provides jobs to nearly 3,00,000 people. A study by the British Council of India, Queen Mary University, and IIT Kharagpur estimated the economic worth of creative industries around the puja at ₹32,377 crore—the size of the economy of many smaller countries across the world—contributing 2.58% to West Bengal’s GDP (between September 2019 and January 2020).
Day 3
On our final day, we started our pandal-hopping early, at 5 p.m., heading to Dum Dum Park.
Our first stop was Tarun Sangha’s Puja pandal, themed ‘Muktodhara’, highlighting the dangers of disrupting nature’s balance. It illustrates humanity’s attempts to control nature through hydel projects, which has led to overcrowded hills and blocked rivers, and conveys a message that nature will ultimately retaliate.
Next was the Sarbojanin pandal, where clusters of dried brinjal bushes dangled from the ceiling, complementing the wall murals of roots reaching for life and hands stretching towards the sky.
The walls displayed inverted trees with roots reaching upwards, emphasizing our lost connection with nature and the need to restore it. The artwork prompted us to reflect on how we celebrate greenery elsewhere but neglect it in our own surroundings—the petty arguments we have with our neighbours over fallen leaves symbolizing our growing disconnect from nature.
The Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra pandal, the last pandal we explored, showcased the beauty of Jamdani art, celebrating this timeless textile. Originating from South Rupshi, Bangladesh, Jamdani thrived under Mughal patronage and declined during colonial rule.
Visitors to this pandal entered through a vertical spine, symbolizing the empowerment of Jamdani weavers. Wing-like structures leading to the entrance represented the craft’s elevation. A 400-metre net of Jamdani weave adorned the approach walls. Inside, a world map behind the idol indicated Jamdani export locations, while linocut (linoleum block print) panels depicted life in Musthuli, a Burdwan village (West Bengal), where 25 women had been weaving for months for this occasion.
The Durga idol itself, draped in a Jamdani with intricate patterns, showcased how craftsmanship merges tradition with contemporary creativity. The entire pandal is a tribute to the weavers of this centuries-old textile.
Despite Kolkata’s heat, dust, and noise, the Durga Puja pandals provided a rich and unique experience. The three nights had flown by, filled with laughter and discussions with Somu and Ravi. We decided to leave the city early, weary from the humidity.
Durga Puja is the heartbeat of Kolkata, fostering community spirit. The festival, now a grand 10-day celebration, harmoniously blends modern trends with tradition, ensuring its relevance for generations to come.
Related posts:
Superb! It's like being there. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Very Well drafted and captured Dev .