BK Singh
Across the city of Prayagraj, the air hums with excitement. Pandals — those temporary shrines of art, devotion, and shared identity — are coming alive. Artisans are painting, carpenters building, electricals lighting up, sweets being prepared: the final touches are being lovingly added.
This year, the Bengali Welfare Association has announced that six “special” pandals and ten pandals in the middle-class category will be honoured.
Awards will be given in five categories: interior decoration, traditional worship rituals, cultural programs during Puja, and the photogenic face of Maa Durga.
These honours are more than trophies. They are recognition of the devotion, creativity, faith, and community investment that go into making Durga Puja more than a festival — a lived culture, an annual homecoming for many.
The Origins: How the Bengali Community Began Durga Puja in Prayagraj
To understand the significance of these awards, one must go back in time to when Durga Puja in Prayagraj evolved from private observances into the large community festivals (“barwaris” or committees) we see today.
One of the oldest barwaris is Colonelgunj Barwari, which, according to records, was formed in 1853. Before that, Pujas were held in the homes of Bengali devotees.
Over time, as more Bengalis settled, the gathering of devotees to worship together under a shared pandal became common.
The first community Puja of Colonelgunj is said to have begun from the verandah (out-verandah) of Ram Chandra Banerjee’s house, near Bhardwaj Ashram.
This home-based observance continued for some years until a formal pandal venue was established. Other old Puja committees: Attarsuiya Barwari (formed in 1882) is about 140 years old, known for modest means but strong traditions and local artistry.
Shahganj Barwari is also over 100 years old (started in 1923) by a Bengali family, and still preserves Bengali worship and ritual norms in its puja, even as Pandals get more elaborate.
So the Bengali community brought in three key innovations:
- The idea of barwari or community puja (rather than purely household rituals).
- Structuring pandals with committees of devotees, artisans, donors, and sponsors.
- Blending devotional ritual with cultural performance: drama, singing, social gatherings — all anchored around the worship of Maa Durga.
Emotional Arc: From Anticipation to Sadness to Hope
Years of Preparation
For these barwaris, the work begins months ahead: designs, fundraising, commissioning idols, lighting, stage-programs. Even for smaller middle-class pandals, ideas are passed, sketches made, and local artisans engaged.
Immersion (Visarjan): Devotional Sadness
On Vijaya Dashami, the final day, the ritual of immersing the idol is deeply poignant. Devotees say farewell to Maa Durga, who is believed to return to her heavenly abode until next year.
The vibrant colours, lights, laughter, bhajans, and cultural programs — all for these few days — dissipate. The pandal is dismantled; the idol slips into the water. It often feels like a loss.
Cultural & Social Void
After the festival, there is silence. The crowds clear. Cultural performances cease. The lights go dark. The physical space of the pandal vanishes. There is nostalgia for the shared presence of neighbours, relatives, visiting friends — and longing for the rituals, the bhog (prasad), the continuous bustle.
Reflection & Gratitude, Woven with Sadness and Hope
Devotees often reflect: what did they pray for? Were prayers answered? What remained unsaid? And always, gratitude — for community, for shared devotion, for the joy of coming together.
Then hope: belief that next year’s Puja will be even more beautiful, better organised, more spiritually satisfying. That traditions will be preserved, community ties strengthened.
The Significance of Pandal Awards in This Context
In a city with such a rich history of Bengali barwaris and community puja, awards by the Bengali Welfare Association carry weight:
They encourage excellence in ritual fidelity, decoration, aesthetics, and cultural programs. They recognize not just the largest or richest pandals, but often the most heartfelt: those with limited means but authentic devotion.
The categories (decoration, rituals, cultural programs, photogenic aspect) cover both the visible/artistic and the spiritual/traditional, reinforcing that Puja is more than spectacle. Awards help perpetuate standards: artisans, priests, committees learn from past winners; people see what works, what touches hearts.
What to Expect This YearSix “special” pandals will get awards: likely those that combine tradition + innovation + strong aesthetics + community engagement.
Ten middle-class pandals will also be honored, encouraging those with fewer resources to also strive, preserving the inclusive spirit of Durga Puja.
Special attention will be on how rituals are done (authenticity), how interior decorations are done, how cultural programs enrich the festival, and yes — how photogenic the idol is.
A Story Weaving History and Now.
In 1853, in the calm terrains of Colonelgunj, a small group of Bengalis gathered, their hearts full of devotion, in the veranda of Ram Chandra Banerjee’s home.
They wanted to bring the Goddess home — not in isolation, but together, with song, with culture, with rituals. That gathering planted the seed of the barwari tradition in Prayagraj.
Over the decades, as Bengal culture travelled north with migrants, civil servants, and traders, the barwaris grew.
Dutiful families pooled money, local artisans grew famous, Bhartendu Harish Chandra came to stage dramas during the Puja, folk songs travelled across lanes, and the dhak beat rose at dawn.
The simplest pandals and the grandest ones both shared a common faith.
Now, after months of waiting, Prayagraj is again ready: the decorations glowing, rituals being practiced, cultural programs rehearsed, photographs being taken of the idol’s compassionate face.
And yet, all of it — however grand or modest — shares the same bittersweet truth: after the euphoria, the worship, the adoration, comes the Visarjan. The waters will receive the idol, the lights will be extinguished, and for many, a quiet emptiness.
But amid the ache, there is solace: in shared memory, in friendships deepened, in tradition preserved. And in the awards, the Bengali Welfare Association will hand out: not just recognition, but a promise — that the spirit of
Puja will endure, that next year will be another chance to bring beauty, devotion, and community together, to praise the Mother, to honour the past, and to look ahead with faith.
Durga Puja in Prayagraj is not just a festival of rituals and decorations; it’s a living history. The Bengali community planted the seeds of public Puja here, and through more than 150 years, the tradition has evolved, spread, embraced by non-Bengalis too, yet keeps its ritual core intact.
The awards by the Bengali Welfare Association do more than celebrate the beautiful and bid for spectacle: they connect us to that history, give shape to hope, and remind us what Durga Puja has always been — devotion, artistry, community, goodbye, and return.
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