Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin's 95th Year Begins: Khuti Puja Held at Balaram Ghosh Street on 9th August
If you're new to what a khuti puja actually is, you're not alone — plenty of people who've attended Durga Puja pandals for years have never seen this part of it. So before we get to what happened on Sunday, it's worth explaining why it matters.
What Exactly Is a Khuti Puja, and Why Does It Come First?
Long before the goddess arrives, before the lights go up and the crowds start queuing, every Durga Puja committee performs a small, foundational ritual called the khuti puja — literally, the "worship of the pole." A single bamboo stake is planted into the ground at the spot where the pandal will eventually stand, and that pole is worshipped as though it were the deity itself. Priests offer flowers, fruit, rice, and a lit lamp at its base; the pole is wrapped in marigold garlands from top to bottom.
It sounds like a small gesture, but symbolically it's enormous. The khuti marks out sacred ground. It tells the neighbourhood, the committee, and — in a ritual sense — the goddess herself, that this patch of road or park has now been set aside for her arrival. Everything that follows for the rest of the season — the kathamo puja that shapes the idol's bamboo frame, the bamboo scaffolding for the pandal, the theme reveal, the artisans of Kumartuli sculpting the clay — all of it happens because the khuti went in first.
For a committee entering its 95th year, that first pole carries a bit more weight than it would for a five-year-old club. It's not the start of something new. It's the continuation of something that's already outlasted most of the people who'll walk past it this October.
Inside the Ceremony at Balaram Ghosh Street
On the morning of 9th August, a Sunday, the narrow lane outside the committee's premises took on the look it does every year around this time — a spread of white cloth on the ground, a yellow cotton runner laid across it, and the small collection of objects that any Bengali household would recognise instantly: a red-and-white painted earthen kalash, folded new cloth in maroon and yellow, betel leaves, a coconut, seasonal fruit, and a small brass ritual lamp shaped like a bird, set at the edge of the spread.
An elderly member of the committee — the kind of figure every old-guard puja samity has, someone who's clearly done this more Augusts than not — was seen bent over the arrangement, placing a marigold garland with the unhurried care of a person who isn't in a rush, because there's genuinely no need to be. Around him, younger members and family gathered — some checking phones, some watching quietly, one recording the moment for the committee's own archive. It's a scene that could have been photographed any year in the last nine decades and looked almost exactly the same, which is precisely the point of a ritual like this. Continuity is the whole ceremony.
The committee's official banner for the season, put up alongside the ritual space, carried the details in bold: শারদ উৎসব ২০২৬ — Sharad Utsav 2026 — marking this as the 95th year, with the tagline "মা আসছে" ("Mother is coming") set beneath a striking illustration of a bull's decorated hoof, rendered in a folk-art style with deep reds and whites. It's a small but deliberate design choice, and worth pausing on.
A Banner With a Story of Its Own
The artwork accompanying this year's khuti puja wasn't a stock template — it was created specifically for Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin by artist Dhiman Sutar, whose folk-influenced illustration style has become a recognisable thread running through his puja-season work. The decorated hoof motif, rendered with the kind of red-bordered white cloth and bell ornamentation you'd associate with a festively adorned Nandi or a ceremonial bull, hints at classical Bengal folk art traditions rather than the hyper-modern, installation-heavy visual language a lot of big-budget pandals lean on these days.
For a 95-year-old samity, that choice feels intentional. It signals a season that's leaning into heritage rather than away from it — a fitting decision for a committee whose entire identity is built on longevity rather than novelty.
Balaram Ghosh Street and the Weight of North Kolkata Heritage
It's worth pausing on the location itself. Balaram Ghosh Street sits in Shyambazar, one of the older residential pockets of North Kolkata, an area that has quietly produced some of the city's most storied community pujas — the kind that predate the term "sarbojanin" becoming a marketing word rather than a description of how a puja was actually funded and run: by public subscription, by neighbours, for neighbours.
A 95th-year puja in this part of the city isn't competing for Instagram virality the way South Kolkata's big-budget spectacles often are. Its authority comes from something harder to manufacture — continuous, unbroken practice across nine and a half decades, through changing governments, changing streets, and changing generations of the same families showing up every August to lay out the same kalash and light the same brass lamp. That's a kind of credibility no theme announcement can buy.
What Comes Next for Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin
With the khuti puja completed, the season formally begins. Expect the pace at Balaram Ghosh Street to pick up over the coming weeks: kathamo puja to shape the idol's bamboo skeleton, structural work on the pandal itself, and — going by the pattern most heritage North Kolkata clubs follow — a fuller reveal of this year's overall theme as Mahalaya approaches. If Dhiman Sutar's banner artwork is any indication of direction, this year's Sharad Utsav looks set to lean firmly into folk aesthetics rather than spectacle for its own sake.
We'll be tracking the committee's progress as more details emerge, alongside every other North Kolkata puja marking its khuti puja this season.
Quick Facts: Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity, 95th Year
When was the khuti puja held? 9th August 2026, a Sunday, at the committee's premises on Balaram Ghosh Street, Shyambazar.
Which year is this for the committee? The 95th year of Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity's Durga Puja.
What is this year's tagline? "মা আসছে" — "Mother is coming" — accompanied by artwork created by artist Dhiman Sutar.
Where exactly is the puja held? 5/1, Balaram Ghosh Street, Kolkata – 700004, in the Shyambazar area of North Kolkata.
How can I contact the committee? Via the numbers listed on their official material: 98002 14010 / 98810 78902, or through their official Facebook page.
Where can I follow other North Kolkata khuti puja updates this season? Our continuously updated Khuti Puja tracker logs every committee's ceremony as it happens through August.
Where can I follow idol-making updates from Kumartuli this season? Our Kumartuli coverage follows the artisan quarter supplying idols to many North Kolkata pujas over the same months.
A Small Note to End On
Ninety-five years from now, nobody will remember most of what trended this Durga Puja season. But somewhere on Balaram Ghosh Street, there's a reasonable chance a bamboo pole will still be going up every August, wrapped in marigold, worshipped by whichever generation has inherited the job by then. That's what makes a milestone like this one worth writing down — not the spectacle, just the fact that it happened again, on time, the way it always has.
Image and event details courtesy of Uttar Kalikata Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity's official Facebook page. Banner artwork by Dhiman Sutar.
