It Happened! Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity's Khuti Puja Is Done — And South Kolkata Felt Every Bit of It

 

We said it was coming. And it came — beautifully, joyfully, and right on time.

On the morning of Sunday, June 28, 2026, the lanes of Rajdanga, Nabapalli, Kasba in South Kolkata woke up to something special. The air was thick with the fragrance of marigolds and incense. The sound of conch shells and Sanskrit mantras drifted through the neighbourhood. Sarees in bright yellow, red, and orange caught the morning light.

Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity had done it. The Khuti Puja for their 47th Sharadotsav was officially, beautifully, and spiritually complete.

And we have it all to prove it.

The Morning the Season Officially Began

There's a certain electricity to a Khuti Puja morning that's impossible to fake and impossible to describe to someone who hasn't felt it. The puja ground is busy before you even arrive. Someone is arranging the flowers. Someone else is checking on the priest. The bamboo pole — draped in marigold garlands of deep orange and bright yellow, wound with fresh green leaves, and marked with an auspicious red swastik at its base — already stands tall like a promise.

That's what the Khuti looked like at Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity's ground this morning. And it was stunning.

The bamboo pole, the centrepiece of the ritual, was adorned with layer upon layer of genda phool (marigold) garlands in orange and yellow, interwoven with green mango leaves and other sacred foliage. At its base, a clear red swastik had been painted — the ancient symbol of auspiciousness and good fortune. This is not decoration. This is devotion, made visible.

What we observed

The Sacred Khuti Up Close

Look at this photograph and just sit with it for a moment. The bamboo pole wrapped in marigold blooms — orange fading into yellow, leaves curling around every inch of it. At the base, you can see the red swastik painted on the bamboo, and the red thread tied around it — both deeply symbolic in Bengali Hindu ritual tradition. The backdrop shows a partial glimpse of the event banner, with the name of this year's artist, Shri Purnendu De, visible in Bengali script. This is the Khuti. This is what it all starts with.

The Community Gathers

This is the photograph that makes your chest feel full. Dozens of people crowded around the Khuti — men in dhoti and kurta, women draped in yellow, red, and orange sarees — everyone leaning in, hands reaching out, participating in the puja offerings. The puja spread at the base is a riot of colour: white flowers scattered over banana leaves, fruits, earthen lamps, and ritual offerings arranged with care. In the background, the event banner reads "প্রারম্ভিক" (Prarambhik — The Beginning) in bold red Bengali lettering. A priest performs the rituals at the centre. Everyone's eyes are on the Khuti. Everyone is present — fully, completely, joyfully present.

This is what community looks like. This is exactly what Amra Kajan has been building for 47 years.

The Ladies of the Para

And then there's this one. A wide shot showing a group of women in vivid yellow sarees, gathered around the Khuti with the priest and other community members. Their expressions — some reverent, some smiling broadly, some mid-conversation — capture the full spirit of this event. It is sacred. It is celebratory. It is both at once, because in Bengal, these two things have never been separate.

The "প্রারম্ভিক" banner is clearly visible in the background. The khuti towers above them, flower-wrapped and glorious.

These photographs, taken by Pujor Poribar, beautifully capture a community at its warmest.

The Ritual, Explained: Why Every Detail Matters

For those watching from afar or experiencing this for the first time through our coverage, here's what was happening in those photos.

The Khuti Puja is the formal initiation of Durga Puja preparations. The bamboo pole — the Khuti — represents the future pandal. By worshipping it with mantras, flowers, fruits, and sacred offerings, the community invokes divine blessings for the months of work ahead. It is a prayer for smooth preparations, for the safety of the workers who will build the pandal, for the success of the puja, and for the wellbeing of the entire neighbourhood.

The red swastik painted on the bamboo base is one of the oldest auspicious symbols in Hindu tradition, representing prosperity, good luck, and divine protection.

The marigold garlands — genda phool in Bengali — are considered sacred offerings in Hindu rituals. Their vibrant orange and yellow colours are associated with the sun, with energy, and with the goddess herself.

The priest's offerings laid out on banana leaves at the base — fruits, flowers, earthen pots, sweets — are the bhog (offerings) presented to the divine before any sacred work begins.

Every single element you see in those photographs has meaning. Nothing is decoration. Everything is intention.

47 Years and Still Going Strong

Let's take a moment to appreciate what 47 years actually means.

When Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity first came together — a few neighbours, a shared dream, a modest pandal — Kolkata was a different city. India was a different country. The world was a different place.

And yet, year after year, this community has come back. They have raised funds in lean times. They have celebrated in abundance. They have navigated the pandemic years when all of Kolkata's pujas were forced into silence. And they have come back, every single time, because some things are not just traditions — they are responsibilities. Responsibilities to the neighbourhood. To the goddess. To each other.

The Khuti going into the ground this morning is proof of that. Forty-seven years of proof.

Meet the Team Making the 47th Edition Happen

Behind every joyful photograph is a team of people who have been working quietly for months. For the 47th Sharadotsav of Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity, they are:

Chairman: Sandip Banerjee Chief Advisor: Sudip Sarkar President: Nirmal Mukherjee Artist (Shilpi): Shri Purnendu De

To every member of the committee, to every volunteer who showed up this morning, to the priest who led the rituals with care, and to every neighbour who dressed up in their best saree and dhoti to be there at 11:30 AM on a Sunday morning — thank you. You are the reason this matters.

What Comes Next: The Long, Beautiful Road to October

The Khuti Puja is done. But the work is only just beginning.

In the coming weeks, Shri Purnendu De and his team will begin work on the idol. The pandal structure team will start planning the framework. Meetings will happen — some in community halls, some in someone's living room over cups of tea — about the theme, the lighting, the decoration, the sound system.

Slowly but surely, the Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity puja ground will transform. What is a quiet street corner today will become, by October, a world unto itself. A world of colour and devotion and light and music and the smell of dhunuchi smoke and the taste of bhog khichuri.

We are months away. And we cannot wait.

Follow Along — We're Covering Every Step

Here at Durga Puja of Kolkata, we are tracking this puja — and dozens of others — right from Khuti Puja morning all the way through to Bijoya Dashami.

Follow us. Bookmark us. Share our posts with your puja-loving friends and family.

And if you're in the Rajdanga-Kasba-Nabapalli area, keep your eyes open. Something extraordinary is being built right in your neighbourhood. It started this morning with a bamboo pole, a prayer, and a para full of people in yellow sarees.

The 47th Sharadotsav of Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity has officially begun.

Also follow Rajdanga Amra Kajan Kalyan Samity on their Official Facebook Page for all updates directly from the committee.