Durga Prasad Singhdeo stands in front of the Durga idol at Kolbendi village in Bokaro. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Oct. 11: It is neither a 10-day festival nor nine nights of worship for revellers of Kolbendi village, 17km from Bokaro.

Here, Durga Puja celebrations go on for full 17 days — the only such Puja anywhere in India — thanks to its 190-year-old unique history.

Celebrated by descendants of an erstwhile medieval Sambalpur ruler, the 17-day Puja is famed for its ritualistic purity, animal sacrifice and carnival, all of which draw people from dozens of nearby villages.

Though kalash sthapan or the ritualistic placing of the earthen pot across India was done on October 8, the ritual transpired a week earlier at Kolbendi, on October 1. The Singhdeos said the 17-day worship has been the tradition since 1701, after Mughal king Aurangzeb defeated the Kshatriya Singhdeo kingdom of Sambalpur and vanquished ruler Garud Singhdeo sought refuge at Raghunathpur in Bengal. There, stripped of his kingdom, Singhdeo started worshipping Goddess Durga a week earlier than the stipulated date, believing she would grant him extra martial powers.

One man’s faith became a family ritual for centuries. “After more than a century, descendent Madhowdeo wife, the widowed and childless Thakurain, shifted to Kolbendi in 1820, followed by brother-in-law Ramdeo Thakur, who settled here with his family. As we are his descendants, we also strictly follow the 17-day worship,” said 63-year-old family patriarch Durga Prasad Singhdeo, a lawyer, who, like his family members, speaks faultless Bengali.

Priest Chandi Charan Chatterjee, now popularly known as Chandi Charan Pathak, said Bengali rituals were followed to appease the Goddess.

Talking to The Telegraph at the temple where the idol of Ma Durga and the kalash were placed, Singdeo elaborated on the rituals. “The bali (animal sacrifice) starts from the first day and continues till the 17th, but the huge rush for sacrifice starts from Panchami (the fifth day) and continues till Vijaya Dashami. On Dashami, hundreds of goats and more than half-a-dozen buffaloes are sacrificed,” he said.

His eldest son Deepak said liquor and chicken were totally banned in Kolbendi throughout the year.

“On Vijaya Dashami, villagers from Kolbendi, Durgapur, Ramdih, Bar Pokhar, Kuda, Mamalkudar, Andhartaliya, Modidih, Asandih and Chas take blessings from the goddess, as do visitors from Bokaro,” he said.