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इतिहास
The history, origin and significance of Durga Puja — where it comes from, what it means, and how it changed over time.
Durga Puja 2026: 16–20 October 20265 daysदुर्गा पूजा
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Durga Puja is the largest festival in West Bengal and one of the largest in the world, running five days from Maha Sasthi to Vijaya Dashami in the month of Ashwin. In 2026, with Dussehra on 20 October, the five main days run from 16 to 20 October.
It is distinct from Navratri in both form and feeling. Where North Indian Navratri is a period of fasting and home worship, Durga Puja is entirely public: neighbourhood committees build elaborate temporary pandals, often replicating a monument, an art movement, or a social theme, and lakhs of people walk from pandal to pandal through the night. The idol itself is made from clay collected from the Ganga, and the whole installation is dismantled and immersed within days.
The days are Maha Sasthi (the unveiling, with bodhon), Maha Saptami (the main puja with the kalabou and nabapatrika rituals), Maha Ashtami (the biggest day — anjali, kumari puja and the sandhi puja), Maha Navami (bhog and animal sacrifice at a few pandals, and the evening aarti), and Vijaya Dashami (sindoor khela and immersion). Dhak drumming, the dhunuchi naach, and the shiuli flower are the festival's sensory signatures.
In 2021, UNESCO added Durga Puja in Kolkata to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, citing the pandal-making craft, the idol-making tradition of Kumartuli, and the community organisation. The festival's economy is enormous — West Bengal's government estimates it generates over ₹30,000 crore across the state, and Kumartuli's idol makers work for months on commissions that are largely funded by neighbourhood subscriptions.
Almost every large Indian festival means something different in different states. That is not a contradiction — it is the history.
The centre. Over 2,500 community pandals in Kolkata alone, with theme-based installations, crowd management on a scale unusual for a festival, and UNESCO recognition since 2021. Kumartuli's idol makers produce the majority of the idols.
Durga Puja is a major festival across Assam and in Agartala, and is observed by Bengali communities in Bihar and Jharkhand with pandals and bhog.
Large pandals in Delhi's Chittaranjan Park and in Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi's Bengali neighbourhoods. The ritual form follows Kolkata closely.
Durga Puja is held by Bengali associations in New Jersey, London, Toronto, Dubai, Singapore and dozens of other cities, with the same five-day structure and in several cases full immersion ceremony.
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