Pujo Gyan
A Short History of Durga Puja in Bengal
Durga Puja began as a private worship in the homes of the rich and became the biggest public festival of Bengal. This is how it happened.
- Late 1500s
Raja Kangsanarayan of Taherpur (now in Bangladesh) is often credited with holding one of the first grand autumn Durga Pujas in Bengal, at enormous expense.
- 1610
The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family starts its puja at Barisha in south Kolkata. It is widely called the oldest Durga Puja in Kolkata, and it still continues.
- 1757
Raja Nabakrishna Deb begins the Shobhabazar Rajbari puja in north Kolkata, the year of the Battle of Plassey. It became the model for the grand bonedi bari (old family) pujas of the city.
- c. 1790
In Guptipara (Hooghly), twelve friends pool money for a puja open to all: the first 'baroyari' puja (from baro, twelve, and yaar, friends, as the popular story goes). Some sources date it to 1761.
- 1909–1910
Kolkata's first community (baroyari) Durga Pujas are held in Bhowanipore, organised by the Sanatan Dharmotsahini Sabha.
- 1920s–1940s
Sarbojanin ('for everyone') pujas spread across Kolkata's neighbourhoods, often linked with the freedom movement, gyms and youth clubs. The para puja as we know it is born.
- 1985 →
Awards for the best pujas (Asian Paints Sharad Samman from 1985, and many more later) push clubs to compete on art, and from the late 1990s 'theme pujas' turn pandals into large public art installations.
- 2021
On 15 December 2021, UNESCO inscribed 'Durga Puja in Kolkata' on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Bonedi bari: the old family pujas
Kolkata's old aristocratic families still hold pujas in their ancestral houses, often in a courtyard thakurdalan (worship hall), with ekchala idols, family rituals and customs that have barely changed in two centuries. Well-known ones include Shobhabazar Rajbari, the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family at Barisha, Rani Rashmoni's house at Janbazar, the Laha, Mullick and Daw families, and Chhatubabu–Latubabu's house. Many open their doors to visitors during Pujo.
Today: a festival of the whole city
Kolkata now has around 3,000 community pujas, and thousands more across West Bengal. A 2019 study by the British Council valued the festival's creative economy in West Bengal at about ₹32,000 crore, supporting artisans, dhakis, electricians, decorators, caterers and street vendors. The Government of West Bengal has held a Durga Puja Carnival of prize-winning idols since 2016.
Wherever Bengalis have gone, the Puja has followed: Delhi's Chittaranjan Park, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Assam and Tripura, Bangladesh, and community halls from London to New York, Toronto, Dubai, Singapore and Sydney. Abroad, pujas are often held on the nearest weekend, with idols shipped from Kumartuli.