Durga Puja in Kolkata | |
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Country | India |
Domains | Kolkata, West Bengal |
Reference | 703 |
Region | Asia and the Pacific |
Inscription history | |
Inscription | 2021 (16th session) |
List | Representative |
Certificate : direct link |
Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated magnificently marking the worship of the Hindu mother goddess Durga. [1] [2] This festival is the biggest festival in Kolkata, the capital of Indian state West Bengal. [3] [4]
There were about 3,000 Barowari pujas in Kolkata in 2022. More than 200 pujas were organized in the city with a budget of over one crore rupees. [5]
Durga Puja in Kolkata has been inscribed on the list of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity' by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO in December 2021. [6]
Since 1610, the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family has been organizing Durga Puja at their original residence in Barisha, Kolkata. [7] This is probably the oldest Durga Puja festival in Kolkata. Nabakrishna Dev started Durga Puja at Shobhabazar Rajbari in 1757. [8] [9]
Barowari Durga Puja began in Kolkata in the early part of the twentieth century. Barwari Durga Puja quickly became a common people's festival in Kolkata. Earlier, Durga Puja in Kolkata was confined to wealthy families. In 1910, the first Barowari Durga Puja in Kolkata was organized by "Bhowanipore Sanatan Dharmatsahini Sabha" at Balram Basu Ghat Road, Bhowanipore. [7]
Since 1985, the Asian Paints Authority has introduced the practice of awarding the Durga Puja Committees of Kolkata. This award is called the Asian Paints Sharad Shamman. Later many other commercial organizations introduced "Sharad Samman" or Durga Puja awards for Durga Puja in Kolkata. [10] [11] [12]
The Government of West Bengal introduced Biswa Bangla Sharad Samman in 2013. [13]
Reports in the Yugantar and Anandabazar Patrika provide a rough estimate of Sarbojanin (public) puja expenditure since the 1950s. In 1957, each community spent an average of ₹8,000 to ₹12,000 rupees at that time, the combined cost of the pujas was about ₹25 lakhs were; in 1984, that total increased to approximately ₹2 crores. [14]
A Times of India report of 2012 provided a statistic on the expenditure on Durga puja in Kolkata during that season. According to the report, a total of ₹123.05 crores was spent on 3,577 pujas in Kolkata. [15]
Durga Puja Carnival started in Kolkata in 2016. [16] [17] The carnival was not organized in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. [18] It was again organized from 2022. [13] [18]
In 2019, Tapati Guha-Thakurta was entrusted with the task of preparing a dossier by the Indian Ministry of Culture. The dossier was submitted to UNESCO for the inclusion of Durga Puja in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Representatives from various countries around the world evaluated the dossier at the 16th session, which began in Paris on 13 December 2021. "Durga Puja in Kolkata" gets Intangible Cultural Heritage status on 15 December 2021. [5] [19]
Durga Puja is mainly celebrated for 5 days - Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Vijaya Dashami. But the festive mood around Durga Puja in Kolkata starts before Shashti, mainly from Mahalaya. Durga Puja pandals are opened to the public from the day of Mahalaya. The main attractions of Durga Puja in Kolkata are the decorations, sculptures, pandals, [20] lights and illuminations, and carnival. [18]
In the 17th century, from Pujas being organised by the zamindars in their rajbaris, today the festival has become an emblem of joy and unbounded enjoyment. Always considered as a symbol of homecoming, centered around the deity herself, in the present day the Puja has become synonymous with extravagant pandals, pandal hopping, incorporation of various themes and also witnessing a huge array of lights. It has become a way of seeing and situating ourselves in the world. [21]
Even till the 20th century also Kolkata's Durga Puja was primarily a religious and familial event, where different communities came together to worship her and partake in the age-old traditions associated with the festival. While the emotions, essence of devotion and community spirit still thrives, Durga Puja has undergone remarkable changes in terms of scale, style and cultural significance. [22]
The most remarkable changes in the recent times include the exponential proliferation in the number of pujas across the city, an emphasis on creative art and a overwhelming crowd of people visiting the pandals every year. The city has witnessed a surge in the number of theme-based pujas over the years. The themes range from various artistic ideas, cultural traditions, famous monuments around the world and even biographies of famous persons. [23]
While the centuries-old rajbari pujas with their Sabeki Protima and traditions are still popular, theme based pujas have risen in the present scenario and have become extremely popular, recording huge number of footfalls every year. Due to ginormous number of people visiting pandals every year and overcrowding on the main five days, pandals are inaugurated from Mahalaya, much before Shashti. The magnification in the cost of expenditure has also lead the budget to be shifted from only chandas to advertisements and certain extent of government funding. Despite this changes, people have whole heartedly welcomed the new pinch to their age-old tradition and this festival has also turned out to be a melting pot of people from different religions, who enjoy the festivities. [24] [25]
In 2018, CM Mamata Banerjee announced that every year ₹10,000 will be given to 3000 puja committees in Kolkata and 25000 puja committees in the districts all over Bengal. The decision was opposed by the opposition parties. In response to a petition filed, the Calcutta High Court refused to interfere with the decision. [26] Later, the Supreme Court of India refused to put a stay order on the incentives but asked the government to keep a record of the grants given. [27]
In 2019, the amount was increased to ₹25,000 for each puja committee. [28] Over the years, the amount has been increased to ₹50,000 in 2020 and ₹60,000−70,000 in 2022. [29] In 2022, the total amount granted to all the pujas in that year alone stood at ₹258 crore. [30] In 2024, the government increased the amount to ₹85,000 for each puja committee. [31] [32] The total amount was more than ₹365 crore for all the puja committees. [33] The costs would include a 75% concession in the electricity bill for the committees. [34]
A study - Mapping the Creative Economy around the Durga Puja - has been commissioned by the British Council on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal. In 2021, the British Council in India mapped the creative economy of Durga Puja at ₹32,000 crores for the year 2019 and added that the festival contributed 2.58% of the GDP of West Bengal in financial year 2019–2020. [19] [35] "Durga Puja in Kolkata" contributes to a large part of this creative economy. [19]
The economy of Durga Puja in Kolkata is divided into various sectors. Major among the various economic sectors are installation, art and decoration, Idol making, lighting and illumination, literature and publishing, sponsorship, advertising, retail, crafts and design (Puja Utensils), film and entertainment, and food and beverage. [19] In 2019, Kolkata accounts for 15% share of pandal-making (installation, art and decoration) industry of West Bengal, worth ₹129 crores. [19] Both the idol making industry and the lighting and lighting industry contributed ₹120 crores to Durga puja in Kolkata. [19] In 2022, the collective economy of Durga Puja was around ₹40,000 crore and it created employment opportunities for three lakh people. [36] By 2024, the economy stood around ₹50,000 crores. [37] [38]
West Bengal is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi) as of 2011. The population estimate as of 2023 is 102,552,787. West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasura. It is particularly celebrated in the Eastern Indian states of West Bengal,Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and by Hindus in Bangladesh. The festival is observed in the Indian calendar in the month of Ashvin, which corresponds to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are of the most significance. The puja is performed in homes and public, the latter featuring a temporary stage and structural decorations. The festival is also marked by scripture recitations, performance arts, revelry, gift-giving, family visits, feasting, and public processions called a melā. Durga Puja is an important festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Durga Puja in Kolkata has been inscribed on the intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO in December 2021.
Jagatdhatri or Jagaddhatri is an aspect of the Hindu goddess Durga, worshipped in the Indian state of West Bengal and other states like Odisha and Jharkhand. Jagaddhatri Puja is particularly famous in Chandannagar town of Hooghly district,Krishnanagar of Nadia district and Ichhapur Nawabgunj of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal where it is celebrated as a five-day-long festival. Her worship and rituals are derived from Tantra. It is believed that her worship frees her devotees from ego and all other materialistic desires.
Mamata Banerjee is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal since 20 May 2011, the first woman to hold the office. Having served multiple times as a Union Cabinet Minister, Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the first time in 2011. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress, and became its second chairperson later in 2001. She is often referred to as Didi.
Krishnanagar is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Nadia district.
Kolkata has many festivals throughout the year. The largest and most magnificently celebrated festival of the city is Durga Puja, and it features colourful pandals, decorative idols of Hindu goddess Durga and her family, lighting decorations and fireworks. Other major festivals are Diwali, Kali Puja, Holi, Saraswati Puja, Poush Parbon, Poila Boishakh, Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, etc.
The culture of West Bengal is an Indian culture which has its roots in Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama and cinema. Different geographic regions of West Bengal have subtle as well as more pronounced variations between each other, with Darjeeling Himalayan hill region and Duars showing particularly different socio-cultural aspects.
Guptipara is a census town in Balagarh, a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Sadar subdivision of the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Barowari refers to the public organisation of a religious entity, mainly in West Bengal, India. Barowari has significance associated with the Durga Puja festival, in which the Hindu Goddess Durga is worshipped; symbolising the victory of good over evil. The word "Barowari" comes from the Sanskrit words "bar", which means public, and Persian word "wari", means For.
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Shobhabazar is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is an excellence award given to the best decorated Durga Puja Pandal in Kolkata during the festival in October. Since its inception in 1985, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been heralded as the true achievement for excellence in decorating the abodes for Goddess Durga. As time has progressed there have been numerous awards being given by many other companies for creative excellence, but still Asian Paints Sharad Shamman is considered the most important award and the rightful judgement for excellence. It is a trendsetter for all the later awards.
Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in honor of the goddess Durga, an aspect of Adi Parashakti, the supreme goddess. It spans over nine nights, first in the month of Chaitra, and again in the month of Ashvin (September–October). It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Hindu Indian cultural sphere. Theoretically, there are four seasonal Navaratris. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharada Navaratri. There are 2 Gupta Navaratris or "Secret Navaratris" as well, one starting on the Shukla Paksha Pratipada of the Magha Month and another starting in the Shukla Paksha Pratipada of Ashadha Month.
Kali Puja, also known as Shyama Puja or Mahanisha Puja, is a festival originating from the Indian subcontinent, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. It is celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Ashwayuja or Kartika. The festival is especially popular in the region of West Bengal, and other places like Mithila, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, as well as the town of Titwala in Maharashtra, along with the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.
Lake Town is a neighbourhood in South Dumdum of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). One of the coveted neighbourhoods of the metropolis, it has a police station.
The Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja is a Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata, India. It was founded in 1943 by Late Sri Lakhi Chand Jayaswal
Kurumgram is an old village located in Nalhati I CD Block in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal State of India.
Metro Railway, Kolkata, is the owner and operator of Kolkata Metro, the oldest metro system of India. On 29 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways, operated by the Ministry of Railways.
Tapati Guha-Thakurta is an Indian historian who has written about the cultural history and art of India. She is a director and professor in history at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, and was previously a professor at Presidency College, Kolkata. Her extensive research work on Kolkata's Durga Puja led to its inclusion in UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Bullygune Cultural Association is the most famous Sarbojanin (public) Durga idol kept at Bullygunge, a prominent locality in south Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, during the Durga Puja festival. The idol is kept for public display for approximately 5 days Or more; thereafter it is immersed in the Ganges at Babu Ghat on the auspicious day of Vijayadashami.
West Bengal government can give ₹ 10,000 to Durga Puja organizers in the state, said the Supreme Court
The West Bengal government started with a ₹10,000 assistance to 28,000 puja committees in 2018, which was increased to ₹25,000 per committee in 2019. In 2020, the grant was doubled to ₹50,000 and increased by ₹10,000 in 2022 to ₹60,000.
With more than 40,000 community pujas across the state, the festival creates a scurry of economic activities for three-four months every year
he ongoing protests in Kolkata, sparked by the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital, are posing a threat to the city's Durga Puja celebrations, which are integral to West Bengal's Rs 50,000 crore festive economy.