Kolkata’s Durga Puja is no longer just about dazzling lights, late-night adda, nostalgia and street food. The city’s biggest festival has morphed into an unspoken IQ test, where pandals compete to outwit each other with concepts that oscillate between the breathtaking and the bewildering.
This year, revellers will be confronted with themes that sound like riddles — Proshno (question), Orpon (offering), Kalrokkhon (timekeeping), Ahuti (sacrifice), Artonad (scream), Nigurho (mystery) and Ocholayton (static).
Once a straightforward festive stroll, the pandal-hopping circuit now feels like a puzzle, leaving people stunned at some stops and puzzled at others.
Here’s what people have to say about the mind-boggling themes that have greeted them last year.
Sumon Mondal, 24, a logistics and industrial advisory executive, said he couldn’t grasp what the theme of Kendu Shanti Sangha tried to convey, though it looked “aesthetic.”
Kendua Shanti Sangha’s theme this year is Nigurho (mystery) Soumyajit Dey
“Last year, Kendua Shanti Sangha in Patuli had their Durga Pujo theme, Onubaad. When I visited, all I saw were iron structures inside a mostly dark pandal. It looked very aesthetic, but I couldn’t quite grasp what they were trying to convey. I later learned that the same artist had also designed the pandal for Tala Prattoy,” said Mondal
Kendua Shanti Sangha’s theme this year is Nigurho (mystery).
For Puja Basu Jha, a financial analyst, the Tala Prottoy theme in 2024 went over her head. She said “I love exploring diverse themes of the pandals. However, last year's pandal at Tala Prottoy was definitely too complicated for me to grasp. From the central theme to the art style, each part of the celebration kept me guessing. Moreover, the minimalist aesthetic didn't make it any easier to decipher.”
The theme for Tala Prottoy's Durga Puja pandal this year is 'A seed courtyard' Soumyajit Dey
Tala Prottoy’s theme last year was “Bihin” or “the void”, which left many scratching their heads.
The theme for Tala Prottoy's Durga Puja pandal this year is 'A seed courtyard'.
A reel posted on social media by the organiser shows a man dressed as a giant green bag with seeds hanging from the sides emerging in the frame and then slowly moving towards the camera in a creepy gait.
Santosh Mitra Square, one of Calcutta’s biggest crowd-pullers, has never been shy of spectacle. In 2024, it went all in with a Las Vegas Sphere replica, flashing LED screens and an ‘11D visual show’ that pulled in lakhs and left traffic in central and north Calcutta gasping for breath.
Kingshuk Bhattacharyya, a Kolkatan who now lives in Hollywood, LA, was back in the city after four years and like a true Bengali, expected a brush with nostalgia. Instead, he got to Las Vegas.
“Really waited all these years for Pujo time to be here,” he said. “But the Las Vegas theme confused me. Maa durga is happy to be in Kolkata. Why take her to Vegas? I thought Kolkata still makes zamindar bari themes only… I missed the nostalgia."
"We know Kolkata is trying to become like London sometime in the future," Bhattacharyya added, but also termed this whole idea as "barabari" (too much).
Pooja Banerjee, a resident of Garia, goes pandal hopping on Panchami night with her friends.
Although she loves taking pictures and videos of the pandals, she admits that she barely understands the themes these days.
“In 2024, I visited popular pandals like Mudiali, Shib Mandir, Haridevpur’s three pujas (Ajeya Sanghati Club, Haridevpur Netaji Sporting Club and Haridevpur 41 Pally Club.) I don’t remember any of the themes now because I did not understand them back then. When theme pujas began, the themes were easier to grasp. But with cut-throat competition, the themes are now complicated.”
The theme for Shibmandir Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity this is year is Bishohari (remover of poison) Soumyajit Dey
Prajapati Sarkar, 25, a B.Ed student from Burdwan University said: “Singhi Park chose the theme Satmoholar Antopure (Inside the Seven Mansions), while the idol of Maa Durga was truly mesmerising, the pandal itself felt somewhat detached from the concept,” said Prajapati Sarkar, 25, a B.Ed student from Burdwan University. “Given the theme, one would have expected a stronger sense of history, but that connection seemed missing,” she added.
A Puja organiser told PTI that Durga Puja is not just about celebration, but also about awareness, responsibility and the awakening of humanity.
The crowd differs.