How it began
About 145 years ago, Late Shri Krishnalal Chattopadhyay, a landlord of Ruppur in Jagatballabpur, Howrah, began worshipping Devi Durga at the family home. What he started has never stopped. Today the fifth generation of his descendants carries the Puja forward, at the family's ancestral Durga temple in Ruppur Chatterjee Para.
A Vaishnavite family Puja
There are two traditions of Durga Puja, Vaishnavite and Shakta. Our family follows the Vaishnavite rituals. During the ten days of the Puja the family strictly avoids non-vegetarian food, and only on the eleventh day is the fast broken with fish or mutton.
The pratima
Every year our pratima is made the traditional way. Work begins after Shri Krishna Janmashtami or Rath Yatra, when sacred soil is collected from a nearby river, preferably the Ganga, and mixed with cow dung, cow urine, rice husk and soil from the doorstep of a brothel. On a skeleton of bamboo and hay, two layers of clay are applied. The idol is coloured with biodegradable colours and dressed in a Banarasi saree, jewellery and daker saaj.
Offerings made by the family
Only what is made by our own family members is offered to Devi: narkel naru in sugar and jaggery, prepared on Mahalaya; a different khichuri for each day from Saptami to Navami; mochar ghonto; chhena at Sandhi Puja; and luchi with narkel naru at night.
Traditions that make us unique
- On Dashami morning, the men of the family wear Aparajita vines as armbands, and the vines are tied around children's wrists for protection.
- After the immersion, "Shri Shri Durga Mata Sahay" is written in alta on a banana leaf with a bel twig and placed on Devi's altar.
- Kumari Puja is performed on Navami.
Read about every ritual, day by day, on our Rituals page.
The Durga temple
The Puja is held at the family's old Durga temple in Ruppur Chatterjee Para. Visitors often remark on its age, its carvings and its peaceful setting.
Help us tell the full story
Do you have old photographs, letters or memories of the Puja? Please share them with us through our Facebook page. We would love to add them here.