Durga Puja takes centre-stage in West Bengal
October is a busy festival season in India, and Durga Puja is one to flag for 2021.
October is a busy festival season in India, a time of celebration after the annual monsoons, and although crowds are limited this year, and processions and activities curtailed, there are many worth flagging for 2021. From October 22-26, Durga Puja takes centre-stage in West Bengal, especially Kolkata. Honouring Durga, the “mother goddess” of creation, statues of this Hindu deity are installed in homes and public places and worshipped throughout the week-long festival. On the final day, effigies are paraded, with much drumming and dancing, and immersed in a river or other body of water, to symbolise Durga’s return to the divine cosmos.
