Durga Puja came out of the ‘Banedi’(Traditional and wealthy) family in about 1790 at Guptipara in Hooghly district with the initiative of 12 young men. Barwari Durga Puja started in some parts of rural Bengal under his watch, but it took a long time for the wave to reach Kolkata. In Kolkata, Durga Puja was mainly celebrated by ‘Banedi’ wealthy families.

Basically, after the Battle of Plassey, the English East India Company began full-scale urbanization in Calcutta. Soon the scale of Durga Puja celebrations among wealthy Banedi families increased. The number of home pujas in Calcutta gradually increased from the late eighteenth century onwards. In the next hundred years, many pujas emerged, but the direct connection of our people with all those pujas was not special. During this period, Durga Puja went beyond the confines of a religious ceremony to become a festival, though it was mainly confined to wealthy families. Not only economic inequality but also caste justice was one of the obstacles for common people to join the pujas of the so-called ‘upper class’ houses of the society.

But during Lord Curzon’s tenure, resentment against him took a nationalist form. The first ‘Sarbojanin Durgotsava’ of Calcutta was influenced by that nationalist spirit. The first public Durga Puja was held in Calcutta in 1910, the year the Indian National Congress was held in Calcutta. Organized by Bhowanipur Sanatani Dharmatsahini Sabha (At the beginning of the 20th century, some youths and businessmen of Balram Basu Ghat Road area on the bank of Adiganga established a religious organization called ‘Bhavanipur Sanatan Dharmatsahini Sabha’. The first president was Priyanath Bandyopadhyay and the secretary was Surendranath Mukhopadhyay.).

This Durga Puja was held at Balaram Bose Ghat road. In that puja, the word ‘Barwari’ is replaced by the word ‘Sarbajanin’. And since then, the term ‘ Sarbajanin’ has been used. Today this century-old puja is held on Balaram Bose Ghat road. However, now instead of temporary pandals, this puja is held in permanent temples built later.

The very next year i.e. in 1911, another universal Durga Puja started at Ramdhan Mitra Lane in the Shyampukur area of North Kolkata. In this way, numerous public Durga Pujas are held all over Bengal.

The ancient Barwari Puja’s joy and excitement took a serious turn among the Masses. Veterans who were willing to sacrifice their life in the struggle for the country’s freedom performed stick players, yoga, and drills during that puja. Swadeshi products were also available in stalls located throughout the pandal.

The puja is celebrated as a forum for the expression of nationalistic sentiments as well as a festival to bring people together. It is through this devotion that the message of taking the pledge of the country’s freedom, recognizing it as a goddess, is spread.

Through the spontaneous engagement of everyone, this Durga Puja has developed from a religious celebration to a worldwide festival (Durgotsav) and got the tag of ITH (Intangible Heritage) from UNESCO this year .