FROM RED ROAD TO EDEN GARDENS, BENGAL UNVEILS A NEW SPECTACLE TO OPEN DURGA PUJA SEASON

October 10, 2026

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is set to launch this year’s Durga Puja festivities on Saturday with an open-jeep procession from Red Road to Eden Gardens, accompanied by cultural performances, traditional drumming and a large-scale drone show. The state government’s programme marks a departure from the post-Puja carnival held under the previous administration, replacing it with a major celebration ahead of the festival.

The procession is scheduled to begin at 4.30 pm, with the main programme at Eden Gardens starting at 5.30 pm. Cultural groups representing all 23 districts of Bengal will perform along both sides of Red Road, showcasing the state’s diverse artistic traditions through Chhau dance, Baul music and Bhawaiya folk performances.

At Eden Gardens, several thousand dhakis will perform alongside conch-shell players, creating a traditional musical welcome for the festival. The programme will also feature a drone display involving a planned formation of 3,000 drones, expected to illuminate the sky with images depicting the arrival of Goddess Durga. Renowned singers are scheduled to perform Puja songs as part of the celebrations.

Access to the main event inside Eden Gardens will be restricted to invited guests, while members of the public will be able to gather along Red Road and watch the cultural programme from both sides of the route. Red Road has remained closed since October 6 and is scheduled to reopen on Sunday morning.

The celebrations will begin earlier in the day along the Hooghly riverfront, where five ghats—Babughat, Ahiritola Ghat, Judges Ghat, Nimtala Ghat and Baje Kadamtala Ghat—are expected to broadcast Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s iconic Mahishasuramardini programme through loudspeakers. Large replicas of traditional radios will also be installed at these locations, recalling a longstanding Bengali tradition associated with Mahalaya and the beginning of Devi Paksha.

Adhikari said on Friday that Durga Puja would be celebrated during Devi Paksha this year, referring to the previous practice of inaugurating pandals before Mahalaya. The BJP-led government has scrapped the earlier administration’s Durga Puja carnival on Red Road and chosen to organise its principal cultural spectacle at the beginning of the festive season instead.

The programme represents a significant change in the government’s approach to the public celebration of Bengal’s biggest festival, bringing district-level cultural performances, traditional rituals and contemporary technology together in a single inauguration event.