A Hundred Years Don't Begin With Grandeur. They Begin With a Bamboo Pole: Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin's Centenary Khuti Puja Is Done
Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad did something quieter instead. And somehow, that quietness is exactly what makes this year impossible to ignore.
What Happened on 17th July
On the auspicious morning of Rath Yatra — 17th July 2026 — Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad in Golpark formally opened its 100th year of Durga Puja with Khuti Puja. No elaborate stage, no premature spectacle. Just a bamboo pole, ritual offerings, and a locality that has watched this puja grow for a full century finally stepping into its centenary chapter.
Here's the ceremony at a glance:
- Event: Khuti Puja, marking the beginning of the 100th year's celebrations
- Date: 17th July 2026, coinciding with Rath Yatra
- Location: Golpark, South Kolkata
- Organised by: Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad
- Milestone: 100 years of continuous Durga Puja celebration (since 1926)
- Concept & Creation (ভাবনা ও সৃজনে): Biswaranjan Raj
- Matri Rup (মাতৃরূপ): Nabakumar Pal
- Sound (আবহ): Mallar Ghosh
- Lighting (আলো): Subhash Bera
- Narration (কথনে): Monalisa Pahari
The committee's own words, shared alongside the ceremony, capture the mood better than any translation can: "গতকাল, রথযাত্রার শুভ দিনে খুঁটি পুজোর মাধ্যমে সূচনা হল আমাদের শতবর্ষের দুর্গাপুজোর।" — on the sacred day of Rath Yatra, the Khuti Puja marked the beginning of their centenary Durga Puja. It's a short line, but read it twice and you understand exactly what this year means to Golpark.
The Word Everyone's Now Repeating: ভিত
Along with the Khuti Puja, Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin also revealed its theme for the 100th year — "ভিত" (Bhit), which translates roughly to "foundation" or "base." And unlike a lot of themes that sound poetic but stay ornamental, this one is doing something structurally clever: it's turning the milestone itself into the metaphor.
Think about what a foundation actually is. It's the part nobody photographs. Nobody stands in front of a building's foundation for a selfie — they photograph the finished structure, the facade, the rooftop view. But nothing above ground exists without what's buried beneath it. A hundred years of Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin is, quite literally, a hundred years of foundation-laying — each year's puja adding another layer beneath the one everyone sees today.
The banner artwork makes this idea impossible to miss. A human face, formed entirely out of tangled roots and dried earth, hangs suspended against a stark white background — as if the very ground the community stands on has taken shape and looked back at itself. It's unsettling in the best way, the kind of visual that makes you stop scrolling. There's no goddess silhouette here, no kalash, no obvious festival imagery. Just roots, soil, and a face caught somewhere between forming and dissolving.
The committee has hinted that the full meaning of "ভিত" will only become clear to those who visit the pandal in person — a fairly bold thing to say to a city that has already seen a hundred years of their work. But that's also exactly the kind of confidence a centenary earns you.
Why Rath Yatra and Khuti Puja Keep Showing Up Together
If you've been following Kolkata's puja calendar this July, you've probably noticed something — an unusual number of committees are timing their Khuti Puja to Rath Yatra, and Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin is one of them. This isn't coincidence or convenience. There's genuine ritual logic behind it, rooted in how Bengali Hindu tradition treats Rath Yatra as a day of setting things in motion — quite literally, since it's the day Jagannath's chariot begins its journey. Starting a puja's preparatory rituals on a day already associated with beginnings is considered doubly auspicious. We've unpacked this connection in more depth in our earlier piece on why so many clubs plant their khuti during Rath Yatra, if you want the fuller picture.
For a puja celebrating its hundredth year, choosing this particular date wasn't accidental — it was a statement. A hundred years ago, someone in this same neighbourhood decided it was time to begin. This year, the community chose to mark that same spirit of beginning, on a day designed for exactly that.
A Hundred Years in Golpark: What This Milestone Actually Means
It's worth pausing on what 1926 to 2026 actually spans. This puja has been running since before Independence, through the Second World War, through Partition, through decades of Kolkata reshaping itself street by street. Golpark itself has transformed almost beyond recognition in that time — yet Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin's Durga Puja has continued, uninterrupted, community after community, generation after generation, choosing to keep the tradition alive.
Reaching a hundred years isn't something a puja committee can plan for in advance. It's the outcome of a hundred separate years of people simply deciding to show up — as organisers, as artisans, as devotees, as neighbours pooling in whatever they could to keep the celebration going. That's the real "ভিত" this committee is pointing to. Not a metaphor built for a banner, but the literal, decades-deep foundation of community effort that got them here.
The list of office bearers behind this year's celebration reflects just how many hands a puja this size takes to run — from President Sri Biswajit Biswas as chief patron, through vice presidents, joint secretaries, and joint treasurers, all working through the year so that one October week can happen smoothly. A century-old institution like this doesn't run on nostalgia alone; it runs on this kind of ongoing, largely invisible organisational work.
What Comes Next for Golpark
With the Khuti Puja and theme reveal both done, the real work now shifts to Biswaranjan Raj's team as they begin translating "ভিত" from a concept into an actual pandal structure. Given the ambition already visible in the banner artwork, this is shaping up to be one of the more closely watched centenary pujas in South Kolkata this year — the kind where each update between now and Mahalaya is worth following.
If you'd like to see how other South Kolkata and North Kolkata committees have approached their own Khuti Puja ceremonies this season, 2026 has already delivered a genuinely diverse spread of themes. And across the river, Kumartuli's idol-makers are already deep in their own quiet preparations — straw skeletons rising, clay layers being applied, months before Golpark or anywhere else in the city sees a finished Durga idol.
For live updates, artist reveals, and behind-the-scenes glimpses from Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin as their centenary year unfolds, their official page remains the most reliable source: Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad on Facebook.
Final Thoughts
A hundred years is a strange number to sit with. It's too large to fully picture and too personal, for the people who've lived through even a fraction of it, to treat lightly. Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad has chosen to mark theirs not with noise, but with a word — ভিত — that asks you to look at what's underneath, rather than what's on top. Given everything this committee has quietly built since 1926, it feels like the most honest theme they could have picked.
We'll be tracking this one closely, from this Khuti Puja all the way to the finished pandal — right here on Durga Puja of Kolkata.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. When was Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin's Khuti Puja held in 2026?
It was held on 17th July 2026, coinciding with Rath Yatra.
Q2. Which year of Durga Puja is Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin celebrating in 2026?
This is their milestone 100th year, having started in 1926.
Q3. What is the theme for Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja 2026?
The theme is "ভিত" (Bhit — Foundation), conceptualised and created by artist Biswaranjan Raj.
Q4. Where is Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad located?
The puja is held in Golpark, South Kolkata.
Q5. Who are the key creative contributors this year?
Matri Rup by Nabakumar Pal, sound (আবহ) by Mallar Ghosh, lighting by Subhash Bera, and narration by Monalisa Pahari.
Q6. Where can I follow official updates for this centenary celebration?
Through their official Facebook page: Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad
Images Credit: Adi Ballygunge Sarbojanin Durga Puja Parishad
