Overview

• The five-day festival is underway across India and Bangladesh, with major public observances from September 28/29 through Vijayadashami on October 2.
• In Mumbai, cousins Kajol and Rani Mukerji inaugurated the North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja and grew emotional while remembering Ayan Mukerji’s late father, Deb Mukherjee, a longtime organiser.
• Kolkata’s puja circuit is a political stage this year as TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee plans walkabout visits to select pandals and Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated Santosh Mitra Square, while BJP’s Amit Malviya accused the state government of obstructing that puja’s programming, a claim he posted online.
• Pandals are foregrounding social and historical themes, including Suruchi Sangha’s tribute to Bengal’s freedom fighters, Alipurduar installations highlighting labour and migration, a Guwahati pandal honouring the Indian Army and late singer Zubeen Garg, and a Berhampore tableau resembling President Donald Trump as Mahishasura that the clay modeller called a coincidence.
• Bangladesh authorities said roughly two lakh Ansars, 430 BGB platoons and over 70,000 police are on duty as the festival opens at 33,350 mandaps, with officials reporting only minor obstructions that were promptly addressed.