Blog of Kinjal Bose

Durga Puja of Auddy family of Chetla

Durga Puja is celebrated in quite a few households in Chetla in South Kolkata. One such puja is of Auddy family which is being celebrated in their five arched thakurdalan from the late nineteenth century initiated by Rakhal Das Auddy.

Household Durga Pujas of Begampur, Hooghly

There are a few households in Begampur in Hooghly district where Durga Puja is celebrated. This year on the morning of Nabami I visited two such houses – Ghosh Bari and Gupta Bari. At that time in both the houses puja was going on.

Durga Puja of Harakutir Ray Banerjee Bari

Durga Puja, the greatest festival of the Bengalees is celebrated in many households of Kolkata, and, in some of them, it is held for more than three centuries. One such house is Harakutir of 53, Pathuria Ghat Street where the puja began around 1692.

Durga Puja of Bhabanipur Dey Bari

Dey Bari of Bhabanipur of 26/D, Chandra Nath Chatterjee Street, Kolkata is celebrating Durga Puja for 157 years. The floor of the sanctum where the idol of Maa Durga is placed is made of clay and the old kathamo or the structure is still being used every year and retained by the family.

Durga Puja of Cossimbazar Palace of the Roys (Rajbari)

Cossimbazar Palace of the Roys (Rajbari) in Murshidabad district of West Bengal houses a beautiful chandimandap where Goddess Durga is worshipped for about 290 years. Here Durga Puja is a grand affair. It starts from pratipad.

Barochala Mandir, Ilchhoba, Hooghly

Ilcchhoba, located about five kilometres from Khanyan railway station in Howrah Barddhaman main line houses a number of temples including two pancharatna , a few aatchala and a barochala (twelve roofed) temple.

Raghunath Temple, Ghurisha, Birbhum

Ghurisha, a village under Illambazar block and police station houses a charchala (four roofed) Raghunath Temple “on square base” which happens to be one of the oldest temples of the district. The temple was built in 1555 Sakabda (i.e., 1633 A.D by Raghuttam Bhattacharyya.

Dewanji Shiva Temple, Hetampur, Birbhum

Hetampur located about three kilometres east of Dubrajpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal houses a number of temples – the most prominent among them are Dewanji Shiva Temple and Chandranath Shiva Temple, Hetampur, Birbhum.

Ram Chandra Jiu Temple, Ukhra, Paschim Barddhaman

Ukhra in Paschim Barddhaman district of West Bengal has a number of temples. One of them is Ram Chandra Jiu Temple.

Golok Koyal Ghat & Thakurbati (Annapurna Mandir)

Golok Kayal Ghat of 3, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata is a Grade-I Heritage of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). The ghat is a “riverfront structure” facing Adi Ganga. The ghat comprises of a thakurbati housing Radha Krishna and Devi Annapurna.

Chandranath Shiva Temple, Hetampur, Birbhum

The district of Birbhum houses temples of various types like rekha deul, bangla, chala and ratna but there are a few temples which are octagonal in shape. One such temple is Chandranath Shiva Temple at Hetampur. It is a brick-built east-facing “octagonal-pinnacled” temple of navaratna type built by Raja Krishnachandra of Hetampur in 1847. It also is a state protected monument under Directorate of Archaeology and Museums.

Raghabeswar Shiva Temple, Dignagar, Nadia

There are a number of temples of varying shapes and sizes in Nadia district. Quite a number of them are of charchala (four sloped roofs) type like Palpara Temple, Nadia, Jaleswar Temple and Krishnachandra Jiu Temple both in Shantipur, Rudreswar Shiva Temple at Matiari (1665) and Raghabeswar Shiva Temple (1669) at Dignagar. The latter two temples were built by Raja Raghav Roy (1632-1683), grandson of Bhavananda Majumder, founder of Nadia Raj. Of these Raghabeswar Shiva Temple has exquisite terracotta works.

Fanush Festival at Bholanath Dham

On the day of Deepawali, people light oil lamps or candles in the balcony and now-a-days with colourful electric lights. Fireworks are also lighted at night. At times fanush or sky lanterns are also seen.

Durga Puja of Tarak Pramanick’s House

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.

Durga Puja of Guskara, Purba Barddhaman

Durga Puja is held in many bonedi households in West Bengal. Guskara in Purba Barddhaman district houses a number of pujas of which Chongder, Patra and Majhi Bari deserves mention. Ofcourse, there are other houses where the puja is held but I shall elaborate on the Durga Pujas of Chongder Bari and Patra Bari in this post.