No carnival or blanket doles; dry Ashtami: Suvendu Adhikari's Durga Puja playbook

Durga Puja in BJP-ruled West Bengal is set for a markedly different script this year, with the Suvendu Adhikari government replacing several familiar features of the Mamata Banerjee era with a set of stricter rules while reshaping participation in the state’s grandest cultural festival.

Chief minister Adhikari, addressing Durga Puja organisers on September 7, announced that liquor shops and bars across Bengal would remain shut on Maha Ashtami—the first such Puja guideline by a government in Bengal—while DJs would be prohibited at both puja venues and in idol-immersion processions.

The government has also scrapped the much-publicised post-Puja carnival on Kolkata’s Red Road—a feature from the previous Trinamool Congress administration days wherein select Durga idols were showcased before immersion.

Instead, the Adhikari government plans a four-hour-long Mahalaya programme at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, featuring drones and fireworks, besides roadshows in the city and six other towns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the Eden Gardens event.

The changes come as the BJP government seeks to put its stamp on Durga Puja, after the 15 years in which the previous Trinamool Congress government had made state-backed Puja celebrations a prominent feature of the festive calendar.

FROM CARNIVAL TO MAHALAYA SPECTACLE

The Red Road carnival, which became one of the signature public events of the Mamata government, will not be held. Adhikari said the government would instead concentrate its official celebrations around Mahalaya.

“We will hold the largest programme at Eden Gardens on Mahalaya. There will be drones, fireworks. The entire programme would be four hours long. We will also hold roadshows,” said Adhikari. He announced a separate such programme at Digha, cultural programmes in six towns and decorations at four Ganga ghats in Kolkata.

The BJP had repeatedly criticised the previous government’s carnival, particularly last year when Mamata’s participation coincided with severe flooding in North Bengal.

RESTRICTED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The government has also changed the system of financial assistance to Puja committees. Unlike the previous arrangement of grant being provided widely to organisers, this year’s Rs 1 lakh assistance would be aimed at smaller Puja committees that genuinely require support. “I had said earlier that financial assistance would be provided to small puja organisers. Those who have a big budget, I request them not to seek government funds. The government will help those who cannot hold the puja without financial assistance,” Adhikari said.

The government, however, has offered concessions to all organisers, including free electricity and a waiver of fees for mandatory fire-safety licences. Some puja organisers have already announced their decision to not accept the dole.

ROADS, SOUND, IMMERSION UNDER WATCH

The government has also sought to curb the disruption caused by Puja-related traffic and immersion processions. “No national highway can be blocked for Durga Puja,” said Adhikari, specifying that Puja pandals would not be permitted to shut the 13 major Kolkata thoroughfares. The roads listed include Red Road, Prince Anwar Shah Road, D.L. Khan Road, Hospital Road, Strand Road, Lenin Sarani and the Park Circus seven-point crossing.

All idol immersions are to be completed by October 24, the day before Lakshmi Puja. The Durga Puja festival itself will be celebrated from October 16 to October 21.

‘DON’T HURT RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT’

The government has also turned its attention to the increasingly elaborate theme-based Pujas that have become a defining feature of Kolkata’s festive landscape. Adhikari urged organisers to ensure that idols, pandals, themes and decorations did not offend religious sentiment or distort religious and cultural traditions.

The appeal comes amidst a broader debate over how far organisers should go with artistic experimentation during the festival. It also follows a controversy over a BJP advertisement for a September 7 event in which Goddess Durga was depicted with 11 arms instead of the traditional 10.

The advertisement triggered an uproar, with the Opposition Trinamool Congress accusing the BJP of disrespecting Bengal’s cultural traditions. The banner used during the event carried the same image, but with the additional hand now covered.

Adhikari subsequently apologised. “I apologise for the wrong government advertisement depicting Maa Durga with 11 hands instead of 10. We will be more careful and have also warned officials,” he said.

A NEW POLITICAL IMPRINT

The controversy has added an awkward backdrop to the BJP government’s attempt to present itself as a custodian of Bengal’s cultural traditions. Yet, taken together, the Puja measures announced mark a clear departure from the way the Trinamool Congress government had placed itself into the Puja calendar—through grants, public celebrations and the high-profile Red Road carnival.

The Adhikari government’s approach combines tighter regulation of public celebrations with a smaller, more selective financial role and a much larger Mahalaya event of its own. But not without politics. The 11-armed Durga advertisement has given the Trinamool Congress fresh ammunition to question the BJP’s cultural credentials even as the government insists that its new rules are intended to protect religious sentiment and uphold Bengali culture.

“Maa’s homecoming is sacred to millions of Bengalis. Yet a government that claims to speak for Bengal seems increasingly disconnected from Bengali culture, traditions and the festivals that define Bengal’s identity,” the Trinamool Congress said.

Adhikari, meanwhile, has sought to frame the new approach differently. “Six towns will have cultural programme. Four Ganga ghats in Kolkata will be decked up for Pujo... We will uphold the Bengali culture this Durga Puja,” he said.

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