Stories & articles
History, rituals and memories of Durga Puja in Bengal, from our own Bonedi Bari Puja and beyond, written by our family.
On Maha Navami a young girl is bathed, dressed and adorned, and worshipped as Ma Durga herself. How Kumari Puja is done at our family Puja in Ruppur, and what it says about the Goddess being present in all of us.
At the Sandhi moment of Maha Ashtami Ma takes the form of Chandi, and devotees make their wishes known through dandi khata. What it is, why it is done, and what it looks like in the courtyard of our family Puja in Ruppur.
Why Durga Puja begins at the foot of a bel tree. The story of Ma's long journey to her father's home, the night she rests with her children, and how our family welcomes her on Maha Shashthi.
On Vijaya Dashami, Ma Durga prepares to return to Kailash, where Shiva is waiting. The story of Nandi and Bhringi, the farewell at our family Puja in Ruppur, and the wish every family says aloud: asche bochor abar esho.
A first-hand account of the Durga Puja at our home in Ruppur, from idol making and Mahalaya to Sandhi Puja, Kumari Puja, Darpan Visarjan and the traditions unique to the Chattopadhyay family.
Why Sandhi Puja is the holiest moment of Durga Puja, what 108 lotuses and 108 lamps mean, and how we observe it at our 145-year-old family Puja.
This year the panjika gives Maha Saptami two days, 17 and 18 October 2026. How a tithi works, why one tithi can touch two sunrises, and what the Saptamir adhik puja on the second day means.
Bonedi Bari pujas are Bengal's oldest family Durga Pujas. Here is what sets them apart from community pandals — the Thakur Dalan, the ekchala pratima, the puthi and the bhog.
From the first barowari Puja at Guptipara to the theme pandals of Kolkata, how Durga Puja became Bengal's greatest festival, what draws visitors from across the world, how an ekchala pratima differs from a barowari one, and where family pujas like ours in Howrah fit in.
Who is Kola Bou? The meaning of Nabapatrika, the nine plants that represent nine forms of Ma Durga, and the dawn bath on Maha Saptami.
What an adhik maas or Purushottam maas is, why the Hindu calendar adds an extra month about every three years, and why Durga Puja falls in mid-October this year but will come eleven days earlier next year.
How Durga Puja moved from zamindar homes to barowari and community pujas, how awards for the best decorated Puja helped give rise to theme pujo in Kolkata, and why family pujas like ours still keep the sabeki way.
