There are quite a number of houses in Kolkata where both Durga Puja and Kali Puja are held in the same dalan. One such house belonging to Tarak Pramanick located at 154, Tarak Pramanick Road is celebrating Durga Puja for more than two centuries.
I am pretty lucky to witness Durga Puja, Kali Puja and Rathyatra here. The Pramanicks had a business involving brass, bronze and copper. The chariot of this house is made of brass and it is about twelve feet in height. The chariot moved inside the courtyard of this house.
The Durga Puja was started by Gurucharan Pramanick who was the father of Tarak Pramanick. The house was also built by him. Previously the protima was built in the dalan. The puja is held following Kalika puran. The rituals of Kumari Puja and dhuno porano are not practised here though the former is followed during Kali Puja. Unlike other bonedi families the nabapatrika is not taken to the Ganges; rather it is bathed in the dalan, and that too with different types of water – rain water, dew, etc together with the water of the Ganges. Annabhog is not offered; instead different types of fruits, sweets and naibidya of rice are given to Devi Durga.
The presiding deity of the family is Sridhar Jiu. The bodhan starts here from Pratipad. There is a room just beside the dalan which is known as bodhan ghar where Sridhar Jiu remains there till Sasthi. On Saptami, Sridhar Jiu comes to the dalan and Maa Lakshmi gets down from the thakurghar and both of them are worshipped along with Maa Durga till the morning of Dasami after which they return to thakurghar upstairs.
Till a few years back the protima is carried on shoulders and taken to the ghat for immersion but now the practice has been stopped. The thakurdalan gets crowded with family members and devotees during the days of Durga Puja.
Special thanks to Shri Subrata Kumar Pramanick
Date of posting: 1st October, 2025.
Blog of Kinjal Bose 