Durga Puja
Durga Puja · Kolkata, West Bengal, India
The festival
For five days, Kolkata barely sleeps. In every neighbourhood a pandal rises: an ephemeral art pavilion, built over months, where the goddess Durga — sculpted by the artisans of Kumartuli — holds court. You tour the pandals by night, district after district, in a city turned into a museum.
Durga Puja celebrates the goddess Durga's victory and the homecoming of Bengalis. Kolkata's festival has been on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2021. In 2026 its main days run 17–21 October; it returns in autumn 2027.
The official film selected for this sheet — “Durga Puja in Kolkata”, published by UNESCO — is embedded below for direct viewing.
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Key facts
Name: Durga Puja. Place: Across the city of Kolkata, India. Dates: In 2026, the main days of Durga Puja run from 17 to 21 October (Maha Shashthi to Vijaya Dashami). In 2027, the festival returns in autumn, following the Hindu lunar calendar. Official site: no single official website published to date. Official contact: in the course of verification.
Filmed by the festivals — the official aftermovies
Durga Puja in Kolkata
© UNESCO (YouTube) — Official UNESCO film