Durga Puja celebrations to commence a month earlier in West Bengal, with gratitude for UNESCO

The Durga Puja celebrations will be ushered in a month in advance this year in West Bengal, with people of different faiths joining together in a special, statewide programme on 1 September to rejoice and celebrate the inclusion of the festival in UNESCO’s ‘Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

Addressing the state’s senior officers in administration and police, and ministers, in an administrative review meeting in Kolkata, Mamata made the announcement.

The Durga Puja celebrations are to commence at the beginning of October. On September 1, however, a state-wide programme will be organised.

Around 1 pm on the day concerned, puja committees and local clubs in Kolkata and the districts will jointly participate in the special programme.

The District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Kolkata Police - have been asked to gear up for the same. The inclusion of the Durga Puja in the UNESCO list will be observed with a gesture of ‘solidarity’, with people of different faiths expressing gratitude in their own way.

Women will blow conch shells and observe rituals, and people can offer prayers in their own way in accordance with their personal beliefs.

In Kolkata, there will be a congregation at the same time which will transform into a procession. The state tourism department will extend an invitation to all diplomats to the annual Puja Carnival that takes place on the city's Red Road. The carnival will be ‘something worth watching’, the CM added.

The initiative is to show how Bengal responds and reciprocates when considered and offered the recognition. “This is one challenge all departments will have to take,” Mamata said.

The state Chief Secretary has been asked to have one special logo designed for the occasion. The tourism department in coordination with the information and cultural affairs department will have the logo readied. The logo will be used by clubs, and on hoardings across the state, the chief minister added.

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