West Bengal’s first State-backed Durga Puja celebration under the Bharatiya Janata Party government began at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on October 10, drawing about 40,000 people for a cultural event held on Mahalaya. The programme marked the new administration’s first major public celebration of the festival and combined religious observance, performances and large-scale event arrangements at one of the city’s most prominent public venues.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari attended the event with members of his Council of Ministers and said that Durga Puja celebrations would follow traditional religious practices this year. He said pujas would not be inaugurated before Mahalaya, referring to a practice followed by the previous Trinamool Congress government.
“All Durga Pujas will follow the proper religious traditions this year,” Mr. Adhikari said. “This is the first time pujas have not been inaugurated before time. This is our tradition; everybody has to follow the religious scripture and traditions.”
The Chief Minister also said that 12,400 more community Durga Pujas were being organised across West Bengal this year after the new government took office. The figure compares with 45,000 community pujas held in the State in 2025 under the previous administration, according to the report.
The question of State financial support for community pujas was also part of the government’s approach to this year’s celebrations. The earlier administration introduced cash incentives for community puja committees in 2018, a practice that the BJP government has continued. Mr. Adhikari had appealed to large pujas not to seek State assistance and said that more than 200 puja committees in Kolkata had declined the financial support.
The Eden Gardens programme was initially planned with the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the report. However, Mr. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not attend after protests in Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took place on Saturday.
West Bengal Governor R.N. Ravi, State Ministers, actors, religious leaders and artists attended the event. Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin was also present. The programme continued for several hours and included drone shows and performances by musicians Shantanu Moitra and Kaushiki Chakraborty.
The event placed a large public celebration inside a major sporting venue in central Kolkata, bringing together State administration, cultural programming and crowd management. The reported attendance also highlights the scale at which public authorities and event organisers are staging festival-related programmes in the city, although the report did not provide details of traffic diversions, security arrangements, expenditure or emergency services deployed at Eden Gardens.
Governor Ravi said the arrangements demonstrated the government’s commitment to Maa Durga. He also linked the festival to a broader message about West Bengal’s economic prospects, saying that delegations visiting him had described the State as a favourable place for investment.
The State’s wider Durga Puja programme will now continue through community celebrations across West Bengal. The government’s stated position is that puja inaugurations will follow the traditional festival calendar, while community committees will decide whether to accept the financial assistance that remains available.
