Durga Puja: From Palace Courtyards to a People’s Festival

Durga Puja is far more than a ritual confined to a place of worship. It is a vast canvas holding the history, heritage, art, social ties and shared identity of the Bengali people. With its artistic pavilions, the skill of its clay artisans, the stirring beat of the dhak and crowds that gather freely, it has become a festival for everyone. Over centuries, it has been shaped by faith, the patronage of kings and landlords, colonial-era change, public participation, modern art and technology. Its journey from private, aristocratic worship to a grand global festival mirrors the changing structure of society itself.

The worship of Goddess Durga has deep roots in the Hindu Shakta tradition. The story of her victory over the demon Mahishasura, told in the Devi Mahatmya, part of the MarkandeyaPurana, became the religious foundation of the festival. In Bengal, however, her worship grew from a blend of scriptural rules, local folk customs, farming beliefs and everyday life. The Goddess came to be seen both as a fierce destroyer of evil and injustice and as a loving mother, a duality that deepened her social meaning. The tender, folk-inspired tale of her return each year to her earthly home as a daughter, reuniting with her family, gives Bengal's festival a human warmth found in no other religious observance.

From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, the festival expanded under the patronage of kings, zamindars and the wealthy. According to tradition, the Puja held in the late sixteenth century by Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur, in present-day Rajshahi, was remarkable for its splendour, though historians debate the exact timeline. Landed and affluent families across Bengal then began hosting lavish celebrations in their private thakurdalans and courtyards, with feasts, music, jatra and plays. Durga Puja thus became more than ritual; it turned into a way of displaying prestige, political influence and prosperity. A famous example is the Puja hosted by Raja Nabakrishna Deb at Shobhabazar Rajbari in Kolkata after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. With British officials among the guests, building political and social connections arguably mattered more than the rites. Control, however, remained with the rich.

The long evolution of Durga Puja shows that it is not merely a history of rituals. It is a living stream carrying social structures, class relations, artistic sensibility and progressive thought.

A major turning point came between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the celebration moved beyond individual households and became communal. Tradition holds that the first barowari Puja was held around 1790 in Guptipara, in West Bengal's Hooghly district, where twelve friends pooled money to fund it. This model, paid for by many people rather than one patron, quickly won popularity. Ownership of the festival passed from single families to the middle class and the wider public. Neighbourhood-led organising made the Puja a powerful force for social unity.

By the early twentieth century, collective organising had grown into the sarbojanin, or public, Puja. One held in Bhabanipur, Kolkata, in 1910 is regarded as among the earliest of this kind, welcoming all local residents regardless of caste, class or wealth. In this period the festival became bound up with the nationalist movement against British rule. Activists pictured the Goddess as a symbol of the liberation of a subjugated motherland, and the pavilions became meeting places where young people could unite and lead cultural movements.

The Partition of 1947 changed the Puja's culture and social setting. The new border sent the festival down different paths. In West Bengal, the arrival of vast numbers of refugees, new urban settlements and rapid urbanisation led to an unprecedented growth of sarbojanin Pujas in neighbourhoods and lanes. In East Pakistan, and later in independent Bangladesh after 1971, Durga Puja was not only an expression of faith for the Hindu community but also a vital means of preserving age-old traditions, folk culture and collective identity. Despite social challenges and sensitivities, the Puja here has endured, and the spirit of secularism seen within its pavilions is a reminder of the strong foundation of pluralism in Bengali society.

By the end of the twentieth century, Durga Puja had grown into a vast field of artistic expression. Theme-based pavilions replaced traditional displays with sophisticated presentations drawing on architecture, literature, history, environmental protection, folk art and modern life. Through the joint work of renowned artists, sculptors, architects and lighting designers, pavilions became temporary open-air art exhibitions. Supported by heavy corporate sponsorship and wide media coverage, they draw millions of visitors onto the streets. This has created a strong festival economy, giving a major boost to the livelihoods of artisans, decorators, lighting technicians, transport workers and small entrepreneurs. In recognition of this aesthetic, cultural and social importance, UNESCO inscribed Kolkata's Durga Puja on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021, raising the festival's global standing to an extraordinary level.

In this age of technology and globalisation, Durga Puja has crossed geographical boundaries. Bengalis in Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East celebrate with great fervour. Live online broadcasts, anjali offered through digital platforms and festive joy shared on social media have given global Bengali bonds a fresh, lively dimension. Yet serious questions have surfaced. Is the core religious and social spirit being lost behind pomp and commercialisation? How can the environmental harm caused by building pavilions and immersing idols be reduced? Amid all the dazzle, do marginalised and minority members of society feel safe and treated with equal dignity?

The long evolution of Durga Puja shows that it is not merely a history of rituals. It is a living stream carrying social structures, class relations, artistic sensibility and progressive thought. The true universality of a festival cannot be measured by the height of a pavilion or the size of a multi-crore budget. It is measured when people from every section of society can take part with equal rights, security and self-respect. Having moved from the exclusive ancestral shrines of the elite to a global gathering, Durga Puja continues to teach a vital lesson: a true festival is defined by unity, harmony, tolerance and a shared stand against all forms of evil.