Overview
- Pandal doors opened to the public after Mahashashthi on Friday, with priests and organisers performing Kalparambha, Bodhan, Amantran and Adhivas to formally invoke the goddess.
- Thousands of devotees began pandal‑hopping across cities, with Kolkata reporting about 2,700 community pujas and 5,000 family pujas and Guwahati police approving roughly 550 pujas.
- In West Bengal, appeals from the new BJP government and allied groups led many organisers to favour scriptural, 'Sanatani' designs and cut the number of explicit theme‑based idols at Kumartuli from around 150 last year to fewer than 10 this year.
- Many pandals highlighted social and environmental messages this year, including a Durga idol made from about 13,000 recycled pens and a ‘Sustainable Shakti’ sculpture built from rusted metal and discarded machine parts.
- Companies and institutions used pandals for community outreach by offering health checks, rest kiosks and donation drives while the main festival continues toward Vijayadashami on October 21.