1. Savarna Roychowdhury Family’s Durga Puja

It is Considered the oldest Durga Puja in Kolkata, and the zamindar Shri Lakshmi Kant Majumdar started the Puja in 1610 by making the first Atchala Durga idol. The influence of Shakti-Saivism and Vaishnavism can be seen in the worship rituals and idols. This is why the Mahishasura demon’s skin colour is seen as green. The uniqueness of the idol is that it is seen here in a three-part animation featuring images of Dasamahavidya, the ten different images of Mother Shakti. An idol of Lord Shiva is placed on one side of the deity and an idol of Lord Rama on the other side is to be worshipped along with Mother Durga.

2. Shobhabazar Rajbari Durga Puja

Raja Nabakrishna Dev of Shobhabazar Rajbari celebrated Durga Puja for the first time in 1757. Robert Clive was invited by Nabakrishna Dev as the chief guest in this puja and Clive was present in this puja. Here in Ekchala, the traditional form of Dashabhuja is worshipped according to ancient customs. Here non-Hindus get to see a typical Hindu family function for the first time from the ‘Nach Ghor’ or dance hall located on the outer side of the Rajbari.

3. Laha Bari Durgotsava

This Vaishnava family considers the slaughter of Mahisasura non-violent hence a calmer form of Maa Durga is seen here. There is disagreement among scholars on how old this puja is, some say that Lord Prana Krishna Laha first performed this puja about 170 years ago, while others say that Prana Krishna’s father Sri Rajivalochana Laha started it about 200 years ago.

4. Mallik Bari Durga Festival

The Mallik family of Bhavanipur mainly followed the Vaishnava religion. Since the time of Nawab Hussain Shah around the 15th century AD, they have been worshipping Goddess Durga in a single form. So, this is another ancient Durga Puja of Kolkata. As they follow the Vaishnava religion, they take vegetarian food during the five days of the puja.

5. Durga Puja at Bholanath Dham, Bedon Street

The Duttas of Bholanath Dham in North Calcutta has been worshipping Shiva-Durga, not Dashabhuja, since 1905. One of the features of this puja is that Mother Durga is worshipped here along with her husband Shiva as a deity.

6. Bagbazar Haldarbari Durga Puja

This is another oldest and historically significant Durga Puja in Kolkata. The Durga idol of Haldarbari has been worshiped daily for the past 447 years. It is made of sandstone and the idol is about 600 to 700 years old. Some historians claim that it was sculpted during the Pala period of Bengal. Kumari Puja is one of the main attractions of Haldarbari Durga Puja.

7. Bhowanipur, De Bari Durga Puja

Bhavanipur De Bari is one of the oldest pujas in Kolkata, started in 1870. One of the special features of this puja is that Mahisasur wears a coat and a pair of pants like the British soldiers. It is believed to have been first built as a protest against the British. That tradition is still going on.

8. Badan Chandra Roy Family Durga Puja

Badan Chandra Roy Family’s Durga Puja at Kolutola is about 160 years old. This family also follows Vaishnavism. So here on Ashtami day fruit is sacrificed instead of animal sacrifice. Because Vaishnavas are against violence.

9. Bhukailash Rajbari Durgotsava

Maharaja Jai ​​Narayan Ghoshal started this Durga Puja about 300 years ago at Bhukailash Rajbari, which is now within the Khidirpur region. Mahishasuramardini i.e. Durga idol is made of Ashtadhatu or eight metals and the Goddess rides on a traditional horse-shaped lion.

10. Durga Puja of Shivakrishna Da family

Shivakrishna Da’s father Shri Gokul Chandra Da started the Durga Puja of the Jorasankor Da family in 1840. The worship of the idol of “Devi Durga’, adorned with gold and silver ornaments, in the well-decorated Thakurdalan is one of the features of this house.

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 .

There is a mythological story attached to the festival that says that the buffalo demon Mahishasura was destroying the world and was invincible. The dismayed gods combined their powers to create a sixteen-year-old girl, each placing a powerful weapon in one of her ten hands. This girl was called Durga who after a forceful fight killed the demon and saved the world. Every year in Ashwin’s Bengali month (September-October), it is believed that she returns to Bengal which is considered her parent’s house when people celebrate her arrival.

The traditional representation of Durga in Bengal follows the iconographic order of Shastras. It resembles the Durga of Aihole and Mahabalipuram (7th century). The tableau of Durga and her four children, Kartika, Ganesha, Saraswati and Lakshmi, shows the full manifestation of the Goddess as protector, initiator of worship, giver of knowledge and giver of dhan(bounty). In Bengal According to tradition, Maa Durga comes to her father’s house with her sons and daughters from Kailash, the abode of her husband Siva, for ten days and at the end of the 10th day, she returns to Kailash again. This made Durga puja in Bengal a family affair.

It is said that the previously Durga was worshipped by the zamindar of Maldah or Dinajpur. However, the first Durga Puja mentioned in recorded history was at Nadia around 1606, under the supervision of Maharaja Krishnachandra’s ancestor Bhavananda. Later, during the reign of Maharaja Krishnachandra, the celebration of Durga Puja took a larger form. The celebration was held in the building built by his ancestor Rudra Roy.

The oldest puja mentioned in Calcutta is the family puja of Savarna Chowdhury of Barisha which began in 1610 and is still conducted in a very traditional style today. Later, Durga Puja became practised among the cronies of Kolkata’s new urban business elite. Raja Nabakrishna Dev of Shobhabazar Raj founded a ‘family puja’ believing it will further his business interests. 

After his victory at Plassey in 1757, Robert Clive received an invitation from Raja Nabakrishna Dev to attend Durga Puja.  He came to Sovabajar Rajbari where a golden sofa was put in the quadrangle for him. Located at 36 Raja Navakrishna Road, Durga Puja is still called Company Puja. Raja Nabakrishna Deb established the pattern of Durga Puja that became a symbol of fashion and status among traders. The number of Sahibs (European from East India Company) attending family pujas became an indicator of prestige.

Durga Puja was mainly celebrated as a family festival until 1761 when twelve young men were prevented from attending a family puja in Guptipara of Hooghly district. They formed a twelve-member committee, which organized the first public or community Durga Puja with subscriptions. Hence this type of worship is called Barwari (baro, twelve; yar, friend). A plaque outside the Bindesharitala temple dates the event to 1168 Saka (1761 AD) but no such documented evidence has been found and the date is disputed. The Friend of India, a monthly paper published from Srirampur again mentions the year 1790 as the date of this event.

Later, when the Indian National Congress was held in Calcutta in 1910, a Durga Puja was organized by the country’s freedom fighters at Balram Bose Ghat Road in Calcutta. In that puja, the word barwari is replaced by the word ‘Sarbajanin’ which means universal. That was the first community Durga Puja in Kolkata. In the form of celebrating religious festivals

The fun and excitement of the ancient Barwari Puja took a turn later. In that puja, stick players, yoga and drills were performed by the veterans who were ready to sacrifice their lives in the fight for the freedom of the country. Swadeshi items were also sold in stalls around the pandal. The puja was celebrated as a platform for the expression of nationalistic feelings and a festival to unite people. It is from that worship that the message of taking the oath of the liberation of the country, seeing it as a goddess, is propagated.

After that, the celebration of the ‘Sarbojanin Durgotsab’ gradually increased. Various clubs started celebrating Durga Puja. Everything from making idols to making pandals started getting a touch of grandeur. The application of experimental art continues in the construction of idols, decoration of idols, and pandal.

At first, they make the structure of bamboo and then made the foundational structure with straw. Then the artist builds the goddess idol according to his mind by coating it with clay.

In the beginning, idols of Ekchala were built and worshipped, but later it was also touched by different types of art. Sometimes a social issue comes up there, sometimes there are touches of folk art from the country and abroad. Sometimes the artist builds idols based on mythological figures.

In making a pandal, first, a temporary structure is made of bamboo and then the artist shapes the pandal as per his mind. Sometimes an ancient temple, sometimes a famous architecture of the country or abroad (eg – the Eiffel Tower), or sometimes a puja pandal is built according to the independent idea of an artist. The term ‘Theme Pooja’ is a very popular term in this decade.

Even now Banedi house pujas are celebrated with ‘Ekchala Pratima’ in the ‘thakurdalan’ of the house. These ‘barir puja’ and ‘sarbojanin puja’ both traditions are celebrated in parallel today.

Every Bengali family celebrates this with joy which includes shopping for new clothes that starts a few months ago. People give gifts to their relatives and loved ones during this time. So all in all, a busy situation and crowd can be seen in the market even a few months before the puja.

Bengali Durga Puja Puja officially started in the morning of Mahalaya with Tarpan on Ganga and broadcasting of Mahishasur Mardini on the radio. It is on this Mahalaya day that the idol of the goddess is given life by ‘Chaskhudan’ i.e. eyes painted on the clay idol of the Goddess. Nowadays, from this day of Mahalaya, people with their friends, family and loved ones start going from pandel to pandel thronging the streets of Kolkata to see the Durgap-Pratima and pandal.

Mahasashti

It is said that on this day Goddess Durga came to the mortal world from the heavenly abode with her children. He was welcomed with great fanfare amid the playing of the dhak. Unveiling the idol’s face is the main ritual on this day.

Mahasaptami

Saptami is the first day of Durga Puja. Kala Bau or Navapatrika is given a pre-dawn bath. Nine types of plants are worshipped together as symbols of the goddess.

Mahashtami

The day begins with the recitation of Sanskrit hymns as thousands of devotees offer Anjali to the Goddess. Little girls are worshipped as Kumari Puja or Mother Goddesses. Gradually the important Sandhi Pujas come, this Puja marks the end of Maha Ashtami and the auspicious beginning of Maha Navami.

Mahanavami

It is the concluding day of Durga Puja. After the sandhi puja, the main Navami puja starts. Navami Bhog is offered to Goddess. Animal sacrifice rituals can be observed on this day in some old pujas. Although today, instead of animal sacrifice, a fruit is sacrificed as a symbol. Later the devotees take it as Prasad.

Mahadashami

A tearful farewell is given to the goddess on the last day Dasami. Most community pujas postpone the farewell as long as possible and arrange a grand farewell. The images are carried around the area in procession and finally immersed in a nearby river.

Originally a religious festival, this Durga Puja has thus evolved now into a universal festival (Durgotsav) through the participation of people.

To honour the grandeur of Kolkata’s Durga Puja, UNESCO has given the festival the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity tag on 15^th December last year.