Dhol can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such as the Jammu, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kashmir, Sindh, Assam Valley, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. A related instrument is the dholak or dholki. Dhols are amongst other events used in Indian wedding ceremony processions such as Baraat or Varyatra.
Vijayadashami, also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Durga Puja and Navaratri. It is observed on the tenth day of the month of Ashvin, the seventh in the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The festival typically falls in the Gregorian calendar months of September and October.
Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsav, is an annual Bengali 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 celebrated all over the world by the Hindu community, but it is particularly popular and traditionally celebrated in the Indian state of West Bengal, and other states like Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and some other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. 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.
The music of West Bengal includes multiple indigenous musical genres such as Baul, Ramprasadi, Bishnupuri Classical, Kirtan, Shyama Sangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Dwijendrageeti, Prabhat Samgiita, Agamani-Vijaya, Patua Sangeet, Gambhira, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Bengali Rock.
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 and Krishnanagar of Nadia district 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.
Ranaghat is a city and a municipality in Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Ranaghat subdivision. It is compact but one of the densely populated cities of West Bengal. It is known for its handloom industry, various types of flowers and floriculture and a flower market.
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 organization 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; symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The word "Barowari" comes from the Sanskrit words "bar", which means public, and Persian word "wari", means For.
Bauri (Bengali:বাউরী) is a community of indigenous people primarily residing in Bengal, and considered as one of the Scheduled Castes of India. The Bauris belong to the Bhil tribe. They are usually involved in activities like farming. The Bauris of Purbo Tila Moulvibazar in Bangladesh are usually involved in medicinal practices. The prime festivals they celebrate are known as Mansa Puja, Durga Puja and Kali Puja.
Hinduism is the largest religious tradition in the Indian state of West Bengal with approximately 68% of the population identifying themselves as Hindus. The Hindus in West Bengal mostly belong to the Shakta, minority to Vaishnavite and a small community belong to Shaivite and other denominations. The vast majority of Hindus in West Bengal are Bengali Hindus numbering around 55 million and comprising 60.2% of the state population of 91.35 million (2011) but a notable section of non-Bengali Hindus also exist, particularly among Marwaris, Biharis, Odias, Gurkhas, Sindhis, Gujaratis and various tribal communities such as Koch, Santals, Munda and particularly Adivadis numbering around 9.4 million comprising rest 10.3% of the state population. Hindus have decreased in west bengal due to conversion to Islam which National Commission for Backward Classess(NCBC) notices.
Delhi Durga Puja Samiti, also known as the Kashmere Gate Durga Puja is the oldest community Durga Puja (festival) of Delhi. It is currently held in the lawns of Bengali Sr Sec School, Alipur Road, Delhi. It started in the year of 1910 at Roshanpura Kali Mandir near Nai Sarak as "Baroyari Puja". It was an effort on the part of the probasi (settled) Bengalis living in the city, especially, of one Railway Doctor Hemchandra Sen. Subsequently, Lala Lachminarayan & his son Lala Girdhari Lal helped the puja samiti grow by providing them space in their Dharamshala located near Fathepuri Mosque.
Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in honour 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 Navaratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharada Navaratri.
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 and Anga of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, as well as the town of Titwala in Maharashtra, along with the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.
Bengali Hindus are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Assam's Barak Valley region. In Bangladesh, they form the largest minority. They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Comprising about one-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ethnic group among Hindus after Hindustani Hindus. Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to Shaktism or Vaishnavism of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states. According to the census in 1881, 12.81 per cent of Bengali Hindus belonged to the three upper castes while the rest belonged to the Shudra and Dalit castes.
The Bengali Hindu diaspora is the worldwide population of the Bengali Hindus of Indian and Bangladeshi origin.
Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated magnificently marking the worship of the Hindu mother goddess Durga. This festival is the biggest festival in Kolkata.
Bengali drummers during Manasa Puja in Birbhum, West Bengal
Bengal drummer and a dhaki
A dhaki with his magnificent dhak at a South Kolkata Durga Puja pandal, 2010.
Dhak players, Sealdah, Kolkata
Dhak players Sealdah, Kolkata
