Khuti Puja Live Update: Badamtala Ashar Sangha's 88th Year Officially Begins in Kalighat

 
Some evenings you plan for weeks. Others you simply show up for, camera in hand, and let the moment do the talking. This past Rath Yatra evening on Nepal Bhattacharya Street was very much the second kind — and if you followed our earlier piece on Badamtala Ashar Sangha's banner reveal and Khuti Puja announcement, this is the follow-up you have been waiting for. The pole is in the ground. The 88th year has officially begun.

The Scene on Nepal Bhattacharya Street

By the time the ceremony began, the street outside Badamtala Ashar Sangha's puja site in Kalighat had already taken on that unmistakable pre-Puja energy — the kind that longtime Kolkata puja-hoppers will instantly recognise. A large, freshly built structure stood at the centre of it all: a divine hand, palm open and index finger raised, balancing an ornate chariot wheel rimmed in gold and red just above it. It is a striking, symbolic centrepiece — the raised finger evoking both invocation and blessing, the wheel a direct visual nod to the Rath Yatra tithi on which this Khuti Puja was deliberately timed.

Right behind this installation stood the club's official Sharodotsob banner, lit up against the night sky. It carried all the details that make this season official: the 88th year (৮৮ তম বর্ষ) proudly displayed at the top, followed by credits to the creative team steering this year's celebration — Pallab Jana as Protima Shilpi (idol artist), Rono Banerjee as Creative Advisor, and Pinaki Guha as Alok Shilpi (light artist), under the presidency of Sri Tushar Kumar Ghosh. Supporting sponsors, including JAC Olivol, were also acknowledged on the banner — a reminder that behind every neighbourhood puja's grand vision sits a small army of committee members, artists, and well-wishers working quietly through the year.

Inside the Khuti Puja Ceremony

A short walk from the banner installation, under a canopy of bright yellow-and-white striped pandal cloth, the actual Khuti Puja ceremony was already underway. This is the heart of the evening — a smaller, warmer, far more intimate scene than the grand banner outside might suggest.

At the centre of the covered space sat a beautifully painted ceremonial wheel, styled in the traditional colours associated with Lord Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra, placed on a table draped in pink cloth and surrounded by fresh flower garlands. This is very much in keeping with the Rath Yatra symbolism the club has built this year's opening around — the wheel here doubling as both ritual object and visual continuation of the theme introduced on the main banner.

Around it, committee members and neighbourhood residents had gathered in their evening best — sarees in deep jewel tones, crisp white kurtas, the kind of unhurried, familiar warmth you only get when everyone in the frame has known each other for years, if not decades. Under the glow of string lights and the striped canopy above, conversations moved easily between ritual updates, puja planning, and the simple pleasure of being together on an auspicious evening.

This, more than anything, is what makes Khuti Puja special. It is not a spectacle built for outsiders. It is a community quietly reaffirming its own tradition — and this year, doing it for the 88th time.

Why This Evening Matters for Kolkata's Puja Calendar

For anyone tracking Durga Puja 2026 preparations in Kolkata, evenings like this one are the earliest real signals of the season ahead. A Khuti Puja held precisely on Rath Yatra tithi, backed by a fully designed banner, a named creative team, and an idol artist already on board months in advance, tells you a great deal about how a club is approaching its year.

Badamtala Ashar Sangha's choice to lean into Rath Yatra symbolism — both in the giant hand-and-wheel installation outside and the traditional Jagannath wheel inside — suggests a season with a clear creative thread running through it. It will be worth watching how this theme evolves as Mahalaya approaches and the pandal structure itself begins to take shape.

If Kalighat features anywhere on your puja-hopping route for Durga Puja 2026, this is now firmly a name to remember — not just for its 88-year legacy, but for the intent already visible in how deliberately this season has been opened.

Follow the Journey

We will continue tracking Badamtala Ashar Sangha's season as it develops — from theme reveals to pandal construction to the final unveiling closer to Puja. For the story of how this year began, read our earlier coverage of the banner reveal and Khuti Puja announcement, and for real-time glimpses from the club itself, follow their official Facebook page.

For more ground-level updates from puja committees across the city as the 2026 season unfolds — Khuti Pujas, artist announcements, theme reveals, and eventually full pandal-hopping guides — keep following Durga Puja of Kolkata, where we cover Kolkata's Durga Puja season neighbourhood by neighbourhood, club by club.

Were you at Nepal Bhattacharya Street for this year's Khuti Puja, or has your own para's celebration already kicked off? Durga Puja season in Kolkata never really has a single starting line — it begins in dozens of small, heartfelt ceremonies just like this one, all across the city, all at once.