Durga Puja – the very name of the festival is enough to fill the hearts of people with zeal and enthusiasm. In West Bengal, not just the Bengalis, but also the various communities to which the state is home, wait all year for this festival. The joy on their faces can be seen even when the Puja is about a month away, and once the celebrations begin, there is no stopping the people of West Bengal. Filling their mouths with yummy sweets, dancing to the enchanting beats of traditional “Dhaak” and playing with vermillion during “Sindoor Khela” – Durga Puja of West Bengal brings to the fore the child inside every individual.

Even before the Durga Puja celebrations begin, the atmosphere gets a feel of the season of festivities that begin with Durga Puja. The deft hands of the artisans of Kumartuli working dexterously to design the most spectacular, larger-than-life statues of Ma Durga and her children, the erection of bamboos for building an abode for Ma Durga, and the hustle and bustle of Puja-crazy citizens thronging the market places for shopping – Kolkata starts buzzing with activities from almost a couple of months before Durga Puja begins.

Durga Puja in West Bengal is all about togetherness, love and harmony. This is the time when schools and colleges close for a month of vacations, offices declare holidays during the days of celebrations, and young, old, men, women – all come together to celebrate the homecoming of Ma Durga with her two children, Ganesh and Kartikeya. Communities set up various pandals – in unique designs and colours – to accommodate the Goddess and her children. The arrival of Ma Durga brings people together, who unite and perform the various rituals, and thus strengthen the bond that exists between them.