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Bengal Durga Puja big update: In a big update for the residents of West Bengal ahead of Durga Puja celebration’s, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Monday that West Bengal’s first Durga Puja under the BJP administration will feature grand cultural events, drone displays, and fireworks, while discontinuing the annual carnival established during the TMC regime. Assuring that organizers will no longer need court intervention to secure event permissions as in the past, Adhikari emphasized that his government will facilitate smooth, hurdle-free celebrations grounded in Bengali tradition and heritage.
“The carnival that was being imposed in the name of Durga Puja for the last few years will not be held this year,” Adhikari said after a preparatory and coordination meeting on the festival.
Instead, the state Tourism and Information and Cultural Affairs departments will jointly organise a major programme at Eden Gardens to mark the beginning of the festive season. The programme will feature a four-hour drone and fireworks show, he said, adding that an elaborate series of events would be organised across the state during the run-up to Durga Puja.
A special programme will also be held at Digha after Mahalaya, while cultural programmes will be organised for two days in six cities across the state, Adhikari said.
The BJP government, which came to power in West Bengal this year after ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress, is keen to project the state’s biggest festival as a celebration rooted in Bengali culture and tradition.
The chief minister also said the government would not allow roads and national highways to be unnecessarily blocked in the name of organising pujas.
“National highways cannot be blocked. Puja cannot be organised by blocking roads,” he said, indicating that organisers would have to ensure that public movement was not disrupted.
The government’s approach is expected to set the tone for the first Durga Puja season under the BJP administration, with the emphasis on large-scale public celebrations while ensuring that traditional puja rituals and public convenience are not compromised.
Durga Puja, West Bengal’s biggest annual festival, attracts millions of visitors to Kolkata and other parts of the state and has emerged as a major cultural and tourism event over the years. In 2021, UNESCO accorded the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) tag to Durga Puja in Kolkata.
(With inputs from agencies)
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