City Durga Puja focuses on Hooghly ghats for inspiration
The Statesman | 4 September 2025Durga Puja has received the Intangible Culture Heritage Tag from UNESCO. The colourful carnival, started by the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has attracted people around the globe. The important community puja committees show the rich cultural heritage of the state through dance and tableaux on the way to immerse the Goddess Durga in river Hooghly.
The organisers of Hatibagan Sarbojanin on Tuesday announced their theme this year, Atha Ghat Katha (an unfolding enigma). Clay artist Parimal Pal will make the image of goddess Durga. Two artists, Tapas Dutta and Thomas Henriot, will decorate the pandal and implement the theme.
Like Varanashi, the city is situated on the banks of Hooghly. After London, it was an important river port during the British period. Swami Vivekananda, during his second visit to the West, started his voyage from Kolkata port. Rabindranath Tagore went to Japan from the Kolkata port.
But unlike Varanasi, not much attention has been given to the ghats of Kolkata. The historians did not write about the ghats. But the ghats have interesting stories to tell.
To welcome guests from England and Europe, every evening an orchestra played in front of Eden Gardens and the place is still called the Band Stand.
Some ghats are associated with theatre while on some others, foreign passenger ships were anchored. There is a jetty, where war ships were anchored during World War I and II. Crematoriums have come up along the ghats too. The water of river Hooghly is considered to be sacred and it is believed that Goddess Durga, along with her family come to the city crossing the river.
The theme will be presented in such a way that it is educative to the visitors and the story of the ghats will be told in the most lucid and simple ways, informed the organisers.
Henriot was born in 1980 and is from Cuba. His work is mainly on Chinese ink and brush on Chinese paper. Dutta, the other artist, works as an assistant art director in Tollywood film industry.
