Durga Puja in the hills of north Bengal continues to preserve age-old traditions, with Kalimpong’s Milani Club preparing for 98 years of its Puja and Darjeeling’s Nripendra Narayan Bengali Hindu Hall set to celebrate 112 years of festivities this year.
Milani Club — established in 1928 by Bengalis in Kalimpong — has been organising Durga Puja since its inception, maintaining the tradition despite major challenges over the decades.
“Our main focus is on the celebration of the centenary year of our puja, which will be completed in 2028. However, this year being the 98th year, we are organising the four-day celebration by following all the traditional rituals,” said Subrata Manna, vice-president of the club, who has been associated with the Puja for the past 22 years.
This is the only puja organised by the Bengali community in Kalimpong.
The organisers faced two major challenges in recent years — the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastation caused by the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in October 2023, which severely disrupted road connectivity along NH10.
“We literally gave up all hope during the pandemic and almost decided not to organise the puja because various restrictions were enforced. The second challenge came after the GLOF, when road connectivity was shattered. We had to bring all the puja materials, including the idol, from the plains. But somehow, we overcame all the hurdles and managed to continue the Puja without interruption,” Manna said.
The club, which currently has 80 members, continues to follow traditional rituals, with an ekchala (single frame) idol depicting Durga and her children. The idol has been crafted by an artisan from Siliguri’s Kumartuli, while the priest will arrive from Chandernagore and the dhaki, or traditional drummer, from Malda.
Club members and their families will also organise cultural programmes at the Puja premises, located next to the Town Hall in Kalimpong.
“The Puja also offers tourists visiting the hill town an opportunity to experience the festive spirit away from home. Local hoteliers keep asking us about the timing of
Ashtami’s anjali every year so that they can inform their guests and help them reach the Puja on time,” a club member said.
Darjeeling’s Nripendra Narayan Bengali Hindu (NNBH) Hall is another longstanding centre of Durga Puja celebrations in the hills and will mark its 112th anniversary this year.
The organisers are introducing a major change to the idol this year.
“This is the first time we will drape the idol of Durga in a traditional village woman’s attire, which will be a white sari with a red border,” said Pratapaditya Guha, general secretary of the organisation.
The NNBH Hall will, however, preserve one of its most important traditions during the immersion procession.
Club members will carry the idol on their shoulders from the puja premises at Chandmari to the bus stand at Chowk Bazar, and then to Darjeeling railway station. From there, the idol will be transported by road to Bangla Khola, a hill stream, for immersion.