Overview
- The formal Durga Puja season began with Maha Shashthi on Friday, Oct 16, when pandals across West Bengal, Assam and other states opened and devotees attended Kalparambha and Bodhan rites.
- Bollywood actor Kajol and members of the Mukherjee family unveiled the idol at the 80th North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja in Mumbai and urged visitors to prioritise safety and respect for fellow devotees.
- Local authorities and organisers are coordinating logistics: Guwahati police have granted permission for about 550 pujas, Tripura’s Durgabari temple received a state sanction of ₹7.5 lakh for its royal puja, and 132 Teesta‑displaced families in Jalpaiguri received a ₹1 lakh grant to stage their first puja in the new settlement.
- Bengali communities overseas held parallel celebrations from New York’s Times Square to Cologne, Montreal, Calgary and North Texas to preserve rituals, theatre and music away from home.
- Longstanding committees such as Bombay Durga Bari Samiti and Belur Math are keeping ritual and social outreach alive while smaller and displaced communities focus on cultural continuity, a dynamic that will test crowd management, funding and inclusive access through Maha Ashtami and Vijayadashami.